As A Note
by Good Evening
Summary: Goodies every chapter. Focuses on Zero and Kaname's relationship and histories. Zero tops at all times. Main Pairings: ZeKa, Kuran boys. Some incest. Most consent is rather dubious, savvy? Going under polishing, reconstruction after next story is finished
1. Chapter 1

As A Note:

Zero hadn't slept well in years. He sat in his room, eyes drooping, ready to give out at any moment. Guard duty had kept him up far too late the past few nights, girls with throbbing hearts crowding him, one even coming close to punching him while they fought for a better view of the _animals_. He remembered with a shudder how Kaname had smiled at Yuki and helped her a bit, calming the girls with those sweet, false words until they swooned from exposure. Of course it had pissed Zero off. He didn't even like the _idea_ of having to deal with one of them, let alone work and learn beside them. It disgusted him and collided with most of what he'd been taught. But whenever he skipped a night, someone always came after him. He'd be damned if he was going to have the headmaster knocking on his door when everyone else was asleep, standing with that-oh-so-suggestive posture and questionable intention.

In short, he was tired of it all.

He stretched his back like a cat, squirming to pop something and have the soreness dissipate. He heard a little line of _crack_s along his spine, sighing as he collapsed back into the hard wood of his chair. A pencil and about a week's worth of work sat idly on the desk. Tipping the surface just slightly, thumb pressing down on the roll-top's expanded writing area, He let the pencil meander to the bottom, then blew on it harshly and watched as it rolled back up. He let go, and the thing wobbled for a moment. His roommate groaned in his sleep,

"Damn it, Kiriyu, go to sleep…" Zero grunted, but easily abandoned the imposing stack of problems and half-done essays. He shut off the lamp and undressed, arms getting stuck in his shirt, socks not coming off like they should. Shrugging, he fell exhaustedly to the mattress. The covers and quilts piled beneath him did no good in the cool November air.

_Zero breathed harshly, heart banging against his ribcage ceaselessly. His brow was knotted, sweat dripping over it and pooling in the sacs under his eyes before falling down a cheek. The heat was relentless. Under him, a lean body held tensely the pillows and sheets surrounding them. Zero couldn't see very well at all, but he could tell the figure was very beautiful, and that thought propelled his lust. It moved and writhed and consumed him. If he looked down, he could watch himself perpetually impale the refined curves, skin turned bluish by moonlight that seeped in through a fabric roof._

_The figure felt familiar, though everything it did was unmistakeably foreign: the short gasps and sighs made his head spin 'round, a soft fragrance permeating him and soaking him in some sort nectar. A scent forged from their sweat, tears, and the blood slowly saturating him, pouring in miniature gushes from between the figure's legs. Zero speculated it was the first time, but something made him sceptical about that. It tossed its head, all dark, blurred whips of hair against icy, sweat-soaked skin. Zero leaned down to kiss it, tugging its hair with one hand, pressing up a thigh with the other. The figure whined in response, hesitantly grappling him, and then digging in with cat's claws. Zero groaned, kissing it as deeply as it could in punishment. His lungs burned. It pressed flush against him, and he pinned down its arches, hiking that one thigh up even higher to thrust in, relishing the small, suppressed grunts that now came from the bottom of its throat. He tried going even harder, willing it to tear apart. The figure screamed and thrashed, but he held it down hard as he could, brushing hands against its stomach and along the length of its leg, cooing until it calmed down again. It shivered against him, terribly cold, hugging him as tightly as possible while he routinely broke small, urgent kisses to peck at its brow and cheeks, finally rising and pulling its les until it lay only on its back, feet high in the air and above Zero's bent body. He went deeper and deeper, feeling like he was being swallowed, but really like he was swallowing the figure. It held his shoulders with pulses of tight grips and lax, weak grabs._

_He went faster and faster, pushing its back to the limit, hellbent on completion. Its hips creaked disgustingly loud, and it shouted in pain, still gripping tightly to him, still urging him to finish, always accommodating his mass until, thrust after thrust, he grunted and pulled it by the hair to his face, delighting in the scream he quickly devoured. He climaxed, releasing it so it flopped almost lifelessly to the bed, eyes dark, dilated, and glazed superficially. He wiped his forehead, staring down at the figure with the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. Fangs peeked from beneath his lips, and he pulled out of it harshly, making it wince. He felt reassured that it was alive, and watched it gently close its eyes as it fell unconscious. Settling around it, enveloping the slender, though still quite tense, frame, he waited until he was too exhausted to watch it any more._

Kaname lent a short glance to the window, peering into the darkness outside the classroom he sat in. He spotted Yuki, readying herself for the flood of fan-girls and obsessive day students. The teacher looked up, clicking his tongue, and then watching as several students snapped out of their daydreams, royalty included.

His frown became more pronounced as he saw a silvery cap of hair swagger into the picture. He struggled to keep his posture as relaxed and emotionally ambiguous as possible, trying to conceal as usual the hidden fantasies he had about taking her away from it all. His desk creaked as he leaned back a bit, not paying as much attention as he should have, only noting in the back of his head key phrases the teacher would say. Yuki smiled, so he smiled. Zero also smiled.

He stopped smiling.

Normally, they wouldn't have such an event in their class. People just did what they pleased, only very rarely glancing at the texts provided for them by special companies; books that provided information on their own kind, as well as their interactions in the past with other dead and thriving cultures. Most of them had memorized every passage, right down to the ISBN number decorating the front and back covers. The teacher's voice buzzed in the background, but Kaname was slowly becoming more engrossed in watching the girl. She giggled at something, and Zero's shoulders squared. He walked off shortly after, brisk as she tailed slowly, continuing to bubble with laughter.

"Mr. Kuran, what do you think about senate member Heise's proposal?" Kaname didn't even bat an eyelash, watching his girl walk away,

"Even if his proposal reaches legislation, most members of his own party would not promote it. I think it's useless for him to pursue his point in this manner, when he should be asking for others' approval." The teacher smiled slightly,

"Thank you for your opinion, Mr. Kuran." Ruka sat cross-legged on her desk. Aidou and Kain stood near her, looking at their prince with concern. His precision was as excellent as ever, but his monotone distracted them. He seemed _bored_ for once. Shiki sat on Ichijo's desk, chewing on liquorice with a dreamy look on his face, holding up small talk with his blonde friend. They weren't entirely oblivious to his dazedness, either. None of them bothered him, even when a small breath he couldn't keep in drifted out of his lips; the smallest sigh to be heard.

Outside, both Yuki and Zero were discussing somewhat of a touchy subject:

"I'm doing fine with my math!"

"Oh, please, spare me;" Yuki sneered, hands on her waist with her petit hips cocked. "You're doing worse than I am! There's no way you can convince me that you're passing." Zero huffed, and crossed his arms, being as playful as his defensive demeanour would allow. Yuki smiled, pleased that she'd gotten through his thick shell at least somewhat. Zero's smile wasn't nearly as large. His mood was terrible, and she suspected he'd either failed a test or had finally fully awakened to senility.

"If you would just take up the offer of a tutor, I'm almost 100% sure you could boost your grades!" Zero shook his head, flinging his arms out in a denying manner, refusing her offer because there was no way his pride was going to allow _another_ person to play mother hen and fuck around with him.

"For the last time, my report card is fine for my position-"

"You're definitely in a rotten position; have you even slept the past few nights?" Zero didn't know how to respond to that: of course he hadn't slept, but could he really give over to Yuki like that? His masculinity absolutely denied the idea, but Yuki's cute, stubborn poise was keeping his heart beating so vigorously that Kaname and a few others couldn't help but tune in to its rhythmic, deep thumps. It was a high nobody could get used to.

The bell rang, and Kaname kept from bolting out of the door. Something was really bothering him, as of late. It was almost as if he was getting jealous of _the both of them_. Zero for Yuki's trust, of course, and Yuki for having such a close acquaintance. How can you be very close to people when you're expected to be a pillar of society? He had to study, converse with politicians, and expand his political network. He simply couldn't have much time to…._ Play_ with Yuki. Not like Zero did.

He gritted his teeth: this situation was less than savoury.


	2. Chapter 2

_Zero spun around, his breath heaving in his chest. He hadn't been running, but felt like he was in a marathon. It was dark, there were some trees, a nice brick building-he was where he was with Yuki last night. Wait, where __**was**__ Yuki?_

"_Yuki?!" He cried exasperatedly, fearing the worst. The monsters had gotten her. The monsters had gotten her, and they were going to get him, too. He needed to start running again. Where was the path?_

_A lamp cracked in front of him, the glass creaking under invisible stress. He watched it silently, feeling the monsters watch it too. He was afraid of it. They were afraid of it. Something else was entering the game. They, at least, could use the darkness, crawling about like beasts and spiders, hopping off buildings and bearing claws._

_The glass groaned and then grew silent. It burst with a final shriek and Zero shielded himself from the flying fragments. The candle inside flickered dangerously._

"No,"

_He mouthed in horror. There was more creaking from the lamp behind it, and the glass cracked with spider's web strands. He gazed upon it rigidly, willing it to stay intact, forgetting the flickering flame in front of it. The flame blew out, and the second lamp imploded. The third, fourth, fifth in line all cracked, and he felt his heart shoving against his chest case. They could hear it: they could hear the blood thrumming in his ears, how it forced through him like white water. He felt weak beneath their eyes. But then, the last light, down at the end of the lane, illuminated a certain patch of cobblestone._

"Ah,"

_Zero felt a smile creep over his face, and he began to run toward the figure that stood proudly but palely in the wavering light. Zero's legs felt like lead, and he hurt for some reason. There was a pounding. It was knocking on his skull like a front door. A heat started in his body, and he began to sweat. The figure standing beneath the lamp slowly turned toward him, and Zero felt everything in and about him still. That gaze, that fiery gaze; so like the others, it was. Condemning him; damning him; stealing his sanity. It looked up into the light, its face illuminated. Zero knew it. Zero knew… him. But he couldn't move. The eyes in the trees forgot about Zero, turning this frightful sequence into a small vignette in which Zero was just another voyeur._

_The figures closed in on the man in the circle of light, watching him with insatiable greed while the figure's eyes continued to pay only the light attention. Zero noted that his hair was somewhat messy, draped over ears and a brow, falling lamely over eyes and a face Zero, for some reason, longed to see. It wasn't just curiosity, either: Zero knew him. The name fell from his lips and the eyes were suddenly cocked to look at him, an iron reddish-brown, but scalding like boiling blood. They fired straight through him, a terror that accelerated his heart as he realised the being was conscious, and quite threatening._

_The figures closed in on the man, and his line of sight went back to the light above him. However, now Zero at last noticed the glowing emission. Far above the man's head and woven in and around swirling wrought iron was a flickering image. Zero's eyes widened as the image became clearer and clearer. His breath caught in his throat and he choked on his heart as it jumped wildly in his chest, bounding from the centre to the back, below and up as it seemed to strive for escape from his possession. It scared him, how wild that suppressed, mournful beat had become. He swallowed as it pounded against his chest case painfully, struggling to keep his eyes on the light before it either disappeared or lost clarity again._

… _In the centre was the man, naked and writhing in what looked like pain from Zero's distance. The subject below the light didn't even blink at the shame of his nudity as it was scrutinized by another. But then Zero's body appeared, and suddenly his lungs also abandoned him, hitting frantically against his ribs as they clamoured for oxygen._

_Zero's image climbed over that of the man, and they shared a languid kiss that soon turned into a violent clash that left the dreamy man's knees jellied, the siren's confidence he'd possessed at the beginning of the encounter evaporating. Zero gulped and found that slowly, his hands and feet left his control, then the whole of his arms and legs. He stepped forward shakily, a force inside of him declaring it's dominance as it shredded Zero's rule and flaunted it's newfound power over him, slowly calming his heart and shoving Zero's conscience from the front of his mind, allowing him to look 'from the passenger's seat', as it were. Zero felt this second person look at the man with a hunger angrier and more heinous than any of the figures surrounding and looking down on them held. He felt the dominance and supremacy invade his mind, and his pride seemed to force the creatures farther back._

_He walked toward the man, who sluggishly turned to look at him. His tired eyes looked at him as if the situation was a punishment, an irony that left him deadened and smiling. At first, he had appeared quite tall, but as Zero approached him, he found he had grown into this new power, and embraced the comforting feeling of authority. He sank into the security, and when he was very close to the man, waited for his reaction._

_The man looked at him emptily with eyes still that deep, warm colour and reddish glow. Zero felt the existence commandeering him smile shallowly, eyes expecting while its hand rose to the man's face. The eyes became riddled with separate emotions as soon as the flesh made contact. They grew wide and anxious, body freezing up until everything was replaced by that same dull acceptance; the tiredness and exhaustion that had eroded his resolve. Though he lacked the purpose and plans every man seemed to have, his charm was nonetheless powerful, and his shrivelled charisma made even the presence inside Zero cringe at the wistfulness. The taller felt uneasy before this man; vulnerable as if he'd bared himself and revealed his own purpose. Finally, with a few weary sweeps of his eyelashes, the paler man's eyes closed, reopening a red that immensely satisfied the second being. The man nuzzled into his hand, then stared up at him._

_All of it was lost on Zero. In his whirl of doubt and fear, the other existence had abandoned him, leaving him to the hundreds of pairs of predatory eyes, and of course the orbs that glowed beneath him, watching him carefully._

"You-"

-

Zero swatted a fly on his desk in boredom, not even bothering to keep it quiet. A few of his peers started and glared at him, but he glared right back. He wasn't in the best of moods.

It began with his sleeping pattern: stay up as late as possible. He couldn't remember having any dreams as of late, but something about that blackness made his stomach churn. His avoidance of sleep stole the intensity of his uneasy state, disguising it as an old man's grudge against Morpheus.

Another thing was Kaname. The bastard had actually fallen to giving him foul looks. Nothing Zero couldn't notice, but the glimmer in the elder's eyes was no longer condescending; now he was just flinging out as much hate as he could reveal without digging into Zero like the Level E the silver-haired teen was destined to become. But that would have been bad publicity, so he settled for acting like a grade-schooler. Wonderful compromise.

Zero's eyes narrowed and he growled at the day before him. His shoddy appearance relayed his rough night. To repeat, he couldn't remember anything. Anything but the fact that the dream must have been unpleasant, because he woke up sweating with blankets everywhere, babbling incoherent half-sentences until he'd stepped into the shower and the cool water shocked his morning energy out of him. Needless to say, his roommate was startled, and also in quite the unapproachable mood, this morning.

For some strange—but very much appreciated—reason, Yuki was leaving this matter untouched. Whether or not she found it disturbing was a minor concern, at the moment, but it chewed and chewed at him until his paranoia had him expecting some sort of confrontation at any moment. However, this did not happen until after class, when any episode could simply be classified amongst the fan-girls as a 'Lover's Quarrel'. Even though he denied them their high school passions, it remained to be seen that he was still a heartthrob, himself, and they were still vulnerable around him, as high school often goes. Knowing their preferences somehow made him feel much worse than before.

Yuki leaned against the brick building behind her, the weather providing them with conveniently placed clouds on their short lunch break.

"Zero, is something wrong?" A stupid way to phrase the question to someone like him, and Yuki bit her tongue afterward for not being more delicate. Zero was not surprised, but conditioned to tense at questions on pretty much anything.

"No. Why do you ask?" The comment wasn't clipped, but short. Zero swore in his head as Yuki picked up on his discomfort. Now he was really on her radar. Shite.

"Zero; you know you can tell me things. We've been over this," Her soft voice was growing terse with quiet exasperation as she tried to keep down the frustrated words eager to jump off her tongue. Zero smiled, a practised warm look in his eyes; appearing thankful for her concern. Unfortunately, this mask was not extensive enough to cover his body language, and Yuki had become much more creative in sneaking past his elaborate, but old defences. She gave him a sad look and spoke to him in a genuinely sombre tone,

"Can't you trust me anymore?" Trust. Right. That was in short supply, around this place. Even Yuki—especially Yuki—had issues. Thusly, a part of Zero's head demanded why he should feel sorry for not fulfilling a proper comfort for each of her insecurities. Zero had also been conditioned not to trust this side of him. _Her_ side.

He nodded that he could and scratched the back of his head,

"Yuki, it's not that, and you know it. Of course I can trust you; you're the very first person I can come to for anything." She was sour at this; Zero never liked to come to anybody for anything. Such was the pride of a dying man.

"If anything happens," He continued, "You'll be the first I tell. I promise you." And for once, Yuki didn't pry. In fact, she took a sort of lonely comfort in his careful dismissal. It shocked him to the core when she turned her head down, the corners of her lips tilting up in a weak smile.

"I see, then. Sorry to bother you about it." very, very un-Yuki-like. Zero almost wanted to press _her_, of all people about her acceptance of rejection, but she looked up and smiled brightly at him, and the words died like always, not even reaching the Promised Land that would have been his untouched tongue.

-

_Kaname was in the dark. Pitch black, and nothing like the thin nights he could easily see through at the school. No, there was nothing he could see, because there was nothing _to_ see. He justified this by his visible hand, but it looked nothing like the darkened images he picked out during the night. This vision of his body almost glowed. He stroked his palm in disbelief of the irony, touching the ivory skin and grimacing when he _felt_ the skin move against his illuminated palm. This was off: dreams didn't _feel_._

_Something sounded in the distance: a scratchy rustling he knew to be leaves. Then the sound sprung up to his right, and forward. It seemed as if he were in a forest, though nothing was revealed to him. A very empty, ominous 'nothing', indeed. His head shot to the left and suddenly, there was other light. Enough to see by. He didn't like this; he didn't like _needing_ the very thing that shunned all of his kind for something as necessary as seeing. Nevertheless, he was begrudgingly grateful that more of the dream had revealed itself to him._

_A row of lights revealed a brick wall behind him, still shadowed by the lingering, imposing darkness. There was no moon, and the stars had faded so that nothing but a voluptuous sheen of empty black loomed overhead. He frowned at the lack of light being provided when it had already proven its ludicrous, almost satirical necessity. Kaname looked as deeply as he could into the newly menacing blackness. The row of lights stopped, small halos of fire flickering shamelessly in the dark suffocation._

_More rustling came from around him, and he stood his ground with his own defiant menace, staring into the depths of the darkness with a growing panic. Until the eyes came, a point at which he nearly lunged into the darkness. They glowed like lanterns amongst the unseen brush and bramble, coming one after another until they numbered close to a hundred pairs, all staring at him with that hungry look. A look no vampire should have had for another. It revolted him, how bluntly their greedy eyes expressed their desire, revealing that hunger in what he guessed was a strategy to disgust and discourage him._

_The numbers alone were discouraging._

_But, his head whipped to the right, distracted by he tap and gasp of another player in this nightmarish setting. Someone to far away to see, but at least they weren't engulfed in the shadows like the disreputable demons hiding and squirming in the rushes._

_The figure was about five lights down. That meant at least seventy-five five feet away. Kaname was for some reason finding it harder to think with the distraction of that person. He watched as the eyes shifted from him in disinterest at this new finding, though a couple of pairs continued to guard him like watchdogs. He looked down the row, still disconcerted that the eyes were focused enough to keep tabs on him, but intrigued incredibly by that source they found so entertaining that long way away._

_He resisted the urge to step out of the safety zone. The creatures watching him and the other figure were obviously put off by the rings of light, and Kaname felt less than inclined to risk the many steps and seconds it could take to reach the stranger at the end. Apparently, he hadn't lost his excellent hearing, because he heard the smallest gasp emit itself from a human mouth. But not just any mouth; that was Kiriyu's voice._

"Zero,_"_

What the Hell is he doing here?_ Was Kaname's first thought. Nothing in his immediate plans involved the boy. Not to mention the clearly expressed disgust he'd shone for him. If given the choice, Kaname would easily toss him out of the picture. He couldn't even look at him without feeling such things. But his eyes betrayed him, steadied and staring at the confused form standing so far away, so he turned his head upward, instead, to stare at his own lantern. Its unusual form shook him, and the vision he experienced was less than pleasant but… more than gratifying._

…_He saw a cool, dark room, the vision overriding his senses and giving him the faint scent of peonies. How quaint. He watched as a body retreated from the doorway, coming towards him and making itself known to him. He drew in a shaky breath and barely kept the anger and shame inside of him from boiling over. Nevertheless, his eyes grew heated and irritated at the sight of a silver crown of hair. It came slowly toward his dreamy prone form, sprawled and naked on a mess of a bed. He wanted so much to look away, wake up, and destroy anything and everything that even _spoke_ the boy's name, let alone shared it._

_The silver-haired boy climbed atop him and his lips touched down on the image of Kaname's, slow and rehearsed like a grand show while they shared their mouths and Zero's hands crept everywhere like the roots of a tree. Kaname saw himself moan lowly and heavily, staring at his partner hotly as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth._

"**Don't touch me**," _He whispered contemptuously, but soon he found his lips would not accept his words, and they were sealed away inside his chest. His body was cemented to the ground, his eyes latched to the vision like cables on a suspended bridge, and he became nothing but a watching, empty doll, his conscious thoughts strong only enough to still work their acidic words inside of his clouded head._

_The figures moved together, and he saw his lips moving quickly, then slowing as his eyes closed up. The boy was taller than him in this small reality, a fact which made his mind roar in indignity, but his pride, for whatever reason, was being kept at a level of minimum involvement in this dream, it seemed. He seethed as he watched his own body yield to its partner's demands, reading their lips like a second language as he watched one ask and the other beg; watched one answer and the other coo in pleasure. When he saw the boy look at him a little too warmly; saw his double spreading his legs a little too far apart, his iron will finally crushed down upon him and he managed to at least steal his eyes away, his neck in pain as he struggled to force it to follow._

_What his eyes fell upon, however, was the very person in the vision: a person he wasn't entirely pleased to see at the moment. _Zero._ The boy was staring at him, but they were too far from each other for him to make a correct guess at what the silver crown was thinking. Nevertheless, he poured as much of his venomous hatred into his shaky gaze as he could before his will cracked, and his eyes fell back upon the spherical screen of light. In a few seconds he heard footsteps edging close to him: a wide, confident stride that made him want to shiver for some reason unknown to him, although he was starting to formulate explanations for this revolting antireality he had been thrust into. Never had something he created repulsed him so acutely._

_As Zero came closer, he found his body turning to face the smirking face of his rival. He found himself smaller than the silver crown, akin to the vision that had been presented to them. He felt delicate and naked in front of such confidence, arms straight at his sides while his legs bore the unsteady sway of his torso. Zero's expression was a condescending self-assurance that left Kaname's own eyes glittering with contemptuous rage. Zero was looking down on him. It wasn't that height was much of an issue, but the bastard was actually _looking down on him._ Kaname wanted to scream._

_The boy—looking old enough to be dubbed 'man', at the moment—smiled in a hearty amusement at Kaname's internal struggle, and lifted a hand to touch the diplomat's cheek._

"**Don't you dare**-"

_But the flesh caught his soft, smooth face gently, and instantly his mind gave up on him, leaving him to simmer under the eyes of his enemy. Although, there was something suddenly so attractive about the man. The power in his eyes and the dominance it suggested seemed incredibly alluring to Kaname, and without thinking, he felt his face leaning into the touch, wanting more than the softness of a simple stroke. His eyes were closed, but then he felt the hand flinch, and they opened and fell instantaneously on the man. He looked unsure, but the spell his presence had was too strong to resist at this point, and Kaname looked at him as if he were waiting for instruction on how to react. Worry seeped in, and he managed at least a pleading look, much more expression displayed on his part than any other moment, that sequence._

_The silver crown became wide-eyed, and the figures in the trees became very, very active._

"You-"


	3. Chapter 3

Kaname had not slept well. It was almost impossible for him to show something so meaningless-people stayed up all the time—but the reason he had dreamt so restlessly disturbed him greatly. For, what he had dreamt extended beyond the formalities and rituals of safety he went through every day, just like everybody else. What he had dreamt shook his mindset and his sanity. It was unstably vivid, leaving his mind reeling at the facts, footsteps slightly off as he tore the sheets away and ignored the crusted evidence that rubbed between his thighs and lathered his stomach with enough reason for the homicidal rage brewing inside of it. Always was he surrounded by that same, light scent of budding peonies.

His dreams had betrayed him, showing him only the most repulsive images and displays they could present in such a short time. The dream in question had no relation to his current concerns and thoughts, and whenever he found himself questioning this, he took a single fingernail and pressed it against his flesh. Just enough to force that automatic worry that blood might spill and cause rumours among the Night Class. Just to receive that panic of a distraction.

This disturbance chased him everywhere he went, and he particularly avoided the base where the scene had occurred: the side of the school where Yuki and Zero talked during lunch and before guard duty. However, as much as he hated the dream and loathed even the smallest remembrance, the question still arose in almost every class: why had he dreamt it? How could something so despicable invade his subconscious? This thought chased him more fervently than even the flashbacks. The idea that he was more concerned about this was… distressing, to downplay his well-hidden freak-outs. He rivalled teens high on acid and going through a bad trip, complete with moving walls and floors that swallowed you whole. Of course, he completely avoided Zero. He had an idea the moody teenager was avoiding him, too. This caught his attention; another thing to worry about.

But Kaname had duties: things that were to be placed above personal issues in light of his race. He handled his usual tasks and sit-downs with his usual cool, capable stance, but when the night was drawing to a close and classes ended, the inevitable walk back through the gate would become a tricky task. Zero, as previously mentioned, had also avoided him. He was thankful for this. But now that Kaname had some time on his hands, Yuki would most likely want to engage him in some sort of conversation. Zero was unlikely to abandon her: homework, sleep, or food.

So when the moment came and the bell rang, Kaname took his time in gathering whatever papers he'd bothered to bring in. He looked out the window next to his seat and saw his peers already exiting the building, looking bored and unenthusiastic about their excited human counterparts.

'Is something wrong, Kaname-sama?" asked Aidou, dutifully lounging against the doorway as he waited for his friend. Kaname also took his time in responding, giving off a dreamy atmosphere that surprised the blonde.

"Nothing is wrong, Aidou." Kaname was stiff, acting as if movement was only a formality that came with wrapping up in thought. It was obvious Kaname was thinking heavily about something, and Aidou wasn't about to press if the lord didn't even want to reveal the subject.

When Kaname felt he had dallied enough, he picked up the rest of his gear and followed Aidou out the door, their positions quickly changing as Aidou fell behind in respect. They approached the gate and a small part deep inside Kaname held its breath in anticipation. Now he was pretty much alone, only a few of the Night Class left talking and walking slowly as if they had all the time in the world, and of course the obsessive Day Class always out to harass them for their incredible, and sometimes more than androgynous, looks.

There was Yuki. She seemed distracted as well, handling her own duty with an uncharacteristic detachment while Kaname just waited for Zero to pop up behind her.

"Good evening Yuki," chanted the diplomat gently, somehow scenting Zero much more easily than before. He focused on the brunette in front of him, quelling the miniscule desire to confront the silver-crowned student.

"Oh, hello, Kaname-sama." Yuki seemed down, but Zero's scent suddenly bloomed in his head and he turned to see the grey-eyed teen stalking up to them. _Peonies…_ He found himself inhaling deeply. Aidou's eyes widened, but he tried not to reveal his notice of the strange action. Kaname was appreciative that neither Zero nor Yuki were aware of his behaviour. By some means, he managed to keep up the short, formal chat with Yuki before saying goodbye and turning to leave. He could feel Zero's eyes on him and hear his loud, quick heartbeat. He compared it to his own which, to his dismay, was slowly rising. When both Aidou and he had gotten to his room, the blonde accosted him for it.

"What did Kiriyu do to earn your attention like that?" He said carefully. Aidou wanted by no means to disrespect or discomfort his lord, but this was something that definitely needed to be dealt with. When he saw Kaname walk to the window and pull open the curtains fiercely, almost breaking the rod, he prepared for a bit of a ride.

"There is nothing involving Kiriyu-san that you should be worried about." Kaname's heartbeat was still up, and his body language grew stiff when Zero was the subject of discussion. What Aidou wanted to say was '_Bull_**shit**.', but that would have been highly disrespectful. He settled for the weight of silence nudged between them. Kaname was becoming quite stressed, and it wasn't very good to have a very powerful person in a particularly antagonized position.

He walked to get himself a drink, but felt Aidou's eyes follow him with concern and apprehension.

"I think it would be best for you to leave, now." Kaname said before taking a sip from the thin concoction. Aidou looked offended and slightly angered, but nodded and exited accordingly. Then, Kaname was alone, and he realised very, very quickly that it is not for the best to isolate yourself when the only thoughts on your mind are tormenting: in this case, he needed very much to be accosted.

-

Zero leaned into the night air, looking out from his open window upon the trees that surrounded the school and, far off, the town. His roommate had long since gone to bed, and after that, it had just been Zero and the rare occasion of completed homework. He sighed with weight and kept his eyes outside on the night landscape.

He was on edge.

Zero hadn't felt this nervous about something for a while, and the fact was, he really didn't have anything to base it off. His roommate stirred in his sleep, but Zero barely noticed, too entranced by the deadened night ambience and his own thoughts to care about anything else. Then, a dim scent reached his nostrils. It was faintly floral, but not a perfume or cologne. Actual flowers. Zero didn't have any flowers around his window, nor had he noticed any growing along the pathway near his dorm. But it grew stronger as he leaned out, seeming to come in wafts on the light breeze. It was very curious, and Zero didn't trust his subconscious enough to sleep and let it take over, dead-tired or not.

He grabbed his coat and threw it on over his generic black pyjamas. Softly leaving the room, he went outside and waited for the scent to come to him again. It did; powerful and tempting enough to have made him follow it so far. He had to make the decision now, however, as to whether he would follow it further. He came upon the thought that a flower couldn't do much harm, and followed his nose like a bloodhound. When he passed the end of the Day Dorm, his footsteps stopped.

_I'm not going any further._

_Nothing good can come of this._

But he did follow it, slowly and carefully as his conscious could persuade his feet. He reached a certain open window, two stories above him, and pinpointed its open glass panes to be the doorway of that intriguing scent. He stepped back as far as he could, eventually reaching the bushes to try and see what was in the room that could have caused it. Or, at least who to see if he could guess. Imagine his surprise when he stepped back a bit more and hit another body.

He could have jumped into the canopy, if it wouldn't have attracted so much attention.

"What are you doing outside Kaname-sama's window, Kiriyu?" Aidou. Zero cringed as a hand held his side and another set on his shoulder. He'd forgotten to bring his gun. _**Shit**_.

"Same to you." he replied in a forced whisper. Aidou wasn't amused in the slightest by his defiance, and the fact that he was an ex-human vampire hunter didn't help the situation.

"I'm going to ask you again: what are you doing outside of Kaname-sama's window?" This time a sharply filed nail pressed into Zero's side, piercing the fabric easily and ready to do the same to his skin.

"Do you really want to start more controversy?"

"Do you really want to test that?" Zero shifted, but Aidou's cold hand clamped his other side, the smaller man's chin resting on his shoulder.

"If you don't tell me your motives, I'm not going to be happy." Aidou's nail pressed dangerously into Zero's side, so close to bringing blood and the very harbingers of Hell.

"That's enough, Aidou. Let him go: he doesn't even have a weapon." Aidou released Zero instantly at the command and resolved to a look of disdain for the ex-human. Kaname did not look at Zero, but kept his attention on Aidou, "I don't need to be chaperoned every moment; you should take a rest." His tone was soft, but still an order and a reprimand. Thusly, Aidou obeyed and left, walking back and leaving his begrudging air.

Zero was absolutely silent. The scent was extremely strong now, and he took it that the emission was Kaname's doing. The brunette didn't say anything, or even question Zero's motives. He merely stared at him for a short second, all dark eyes and pale skin, and then walked right past the boy and into the forest. Zero pursued him until Kaname rounded on him with a cold look,

"Why is it so hard for you to leave me alone?" He asked, inconsistent with the need to barrage Zero with questions about the dream. As if the boy would understand it all. Zero glared at him with dark rings circling his eyes,

"You start walking away without a word to me and expect me to just leave it at that?" Zero was being very bold tonight, and that small part in Kaname arose and admired the short defiance. He easily sent it to the back of his mind and fought the urge to claw at Zero for his ignorance and all-round annoying presence.

"I expected you to accept it as dismissal."

"Then why not retreat to your room?" immediately, Zero's back was against the trunk of a nearby tree, Kaname's fists in his collar and his face and breath close and full of heat.

"I do not 'retreat'. I dismiss." Zero was not in a good position to argue, but wouldn't take the disrespect this puffed-up little prince was treating him with.

"I don't care if you send me away like a sacked employee, just **don't**__walk away from me." Again, that pang in Kaname's head: that admiration the dream had trained him to feel for the student's strength. That bold resistance… he would not allow this thought to progress.

While Kaname conflicted with himself, both were bombarded by the scents of each other. Zero, that sweet floral smell he was trying so hard to name. Kaname, the smell of nearly-blooming peonies, so ready to explode with full colour instead of the teasing hints t dropped like little stones about him.

The brunette did not allow himself to look at his captive, the ideas and scents assailing him revealing a not-so pretty picture parallel to the dream. Zero gripped tightly at the hands so close to his throat and pulled them away while Kaname supposedly abandoned interest in him. He stared at the man with a weary aggravation, not angry enough to put himself in a worse position, but not calm enough to keep all of his demons at bay. However, Kaname was looking a little… off. He didn't want to upset the prodigious leader and have something broken, but he most certainly didn't want to end this with him holding his pride up by crutches.

"What's your problem? I never expected _you_, of all people to avoid me like a grade-schooler after a fight." Kaname shot him a glare, but wrenched his eyes away quickly. The insolence Zero was showing him was damaging to his pride, but he didn't even want to look at the boy for fear the dream would replay itself in reality. An unconventional fear, but even Kaname had his little superstitions. Zero, on the other hand, was glaring at him with full force, senses not yet acute enough to hurt him as badly, and memory not sharp enough to recall the more interesting factors of his _own_ dream. His bad temper was not helping Kaname's shortening patience, and the look he gave him did not encourage friendship.

"I have more important parts of my life to deal with than _you_." He wanted to say as little as possible, at this point. The paranoid likelihood that something else might slip was discouraging him, and he did not do well in weak positions. Zero didn't do well with condescension.

-

Aidou fidgeted on his bed while Kain watched him with a raised eyebrow.

"Something wrong, Hanabusa?" he questioned with a spark in his eyes. He'd let a lot lip by that evening, but when Aidou curled up in the foetal position on his bed, he drew the line. The boy acknowledged his wonder with a grunt, but did not elaborate. Kain sighed and left his chair, the book that had been resting on his lap falling to floor with a light _thud_. Aidou's ear twitched but, other than that, he spared no attention. Kain walked over to the bed and stood before his friend.

"Hanabusa." he spoke the name like a command, and the pretty blonde looked up at him with a snap of his neck and irritated eyes.

"_What?_" he asked rudely. Kain was a little surprised, unused to his cousin's intense animosity.

"Something's the matter,"

"**Nothing's** the matter."

"Hanabusa…" aforementioned teenager grunted, looking out the window as dawn's quick turquoise streaks threatened the sky. Kain's eyes narrowed and he debated over whether to reach out to the boy, or chastise him for being such a kid. But when Aidou rose from the bed to walk to the window, Kain followed him, quickly finding out what had him in such turmoil.

"Kiriyu…" He gritted his teeth and Aidou clawed at his pale arm. He hunched over and snapped the curtains shut with trembling force.

"I want to kill him." Aidou said lowly and Kain listened with ears open to any suggestions.

"I want to tear him apart; quarter him; burn him alive; **I want him dead**." Aidou shook with rage at having seen the ex-human's close proximity with his lord. His nails tore at his jacket, and then pulled it off so he wouldn't have to mend it later. Kain's ears pricked when he heard ice crackling over the window, frosting it so Aidou wouldn't have to see.

-

Dim streaks of daylight played over the tree canopies, filtering into a screen of light less effective than a torch in a sandstorm. Kaname had long since released him and ordered him to go, but Zero's will was adamant about something. The boy desired… an apology? It was absurd he had even conceived the notion; _**neither**_ of them were idealists. Zero's gut was burning, crippling even his rage as that thing inside of him wrapped its influence around his perception. Everything was coming out, and he knew he had been discovered. Still, he begged, pleaded, _Not around Kuran, Not around Kuran_. He'd never wanted to reveal his most disgusting weakness before his enemy. But Kaname had sensed it long ago, and his neck had already tickled with hairs standing with rage. His spine prickled: Zero would go to Yuki. Unacceptable.

"We're going to have to come up with another system to keep that thirst down. I can't have you crawling to Yuki every time your stomach starts growling." Zero bristled with rage, lunging at the diplomat while Kaname attempted to keep the dream at bay.

"_Shut the Hell up_, you revolting demon!" Zero had knocked him to the ground and straddled his waist. He held the starched black collar tightly, not daring to tear his eyes off the brunette. The dream… it was like this… Something inside of Kaname was basking in his attentions, sucking as much pleasure as it could from this rather awkward position. It relished the elder man's confusion and wrath.

"A demon, am I?" Kaname stifled the gasp that thing was urging him to let out. Never had he been in such little control. Never had he been so on edge and so… vulnerable. Zero growled on top of him and it went straight to the other presence in Kaname: it was misconstrued sexually, and immediately his throat reacted and wrung out more sounds. It had started with controlling his nose.

The smell of peonies attacked him, seeping into him and forcing him to crave it.

Then, the beast controlled his fingers, then his hands as they clawed at Zero's sides to hold him, though the pressure was just right that Kaname could force it a little more, effectively pushing Zero from his badly-behaving body.

Zero grunted when he hit the ground, hissing when his head hit the trunk of a tree. Kaname shook slightly when he stood up, but quickly regained composure and his wavering air of superiority. The silver crown grimaced and stood as well, wanting to rub the back of his head, but hands too ready to defend to be so gentle. At least he hadn't bled. Kaname prepared for another argument, but his eyes dilated as a wave of floral memory overwhelmed him. He felt dizzy and tricked, and his eyes glowed scarlet in the rising morning light. His fingertips tingled with the anticipation of touch and he just barely managed to keep his body from swaying in the high. Instead, he leaned as casually as possible against a tree, and put his hand to it. His body craved the soft silken walls of skin, and his arm became gooseflesh when his palm reached the rough bark of the trunk. He hungered for touch, bathed in the aroma of flowers. Zero watched him anxiously, his fingers twitching as a separate odour harassed his senses. At least his breaths were still slow and normal. Kaname's heart was racing and his mind was doing acrobatics.

_Seiren, please…_

"Let's get back to the dorm, Kaname-sama." Zero jumped as the neutral girl appeared to assist her lord. She looked at him once and turned away. Kaname didn't look back at all, and it irked Zero even more when he spoke in a quiet, diplomatic little voice:

"Zero: I'm going to go over some ideas with the Headmaster and see if we can't help you and Yuki, both." Then Seiren helped him back to their dorms. Zero was left alone in the dawn, irritable as ever while that pretty scent grew fainter and fainter, but never quite faded away.

-

"Takuma!" Ichijo turned from his work at his desk to see a little brunette lounging lethargically on his windowsill. He smiled,

"Hello, Shiki." The boy's soft face glowed this morning, and his appreciation for the marvellous view of the diligently working blonde glimmered in his eyes whenever the other looked up from his work. Ichijo saw his friend gently looking him over, and placed his pencil on the desk before collapsing his work into the folder sitting near him. The brunette now had his full attention.

"I've been meaning to ask you a couple of things, but they seem to skip my mind whenever the opportune moment arrives." Ichijo watched him perplexedly,

"I'll answer whatever's on your mind," He stated with curiosity. The answer wasn't entirely stupid; Ichijo would grant Shiki anything, if it wasn't too high a cost, but he knew absently that the other male liked to hear it, especially when the moment was so intense with wonder and permit.

"Perfect." And Shiki smiled and walked over to the desk, Ichijo closing eyes as he battled the headache advancing with the rising sun.


	4. Chapter 4

"'Who' is but the form following the function of 'what,' and what I am, is a man in a mask." - Hugo Weaving, 'V for Vendetta'

Long after Seiren had left, Kaname stood in the shadows of his half-drawn curtains, irritated immensely by the daylight, but too distracted by that irritation and… other things, to effectively remove it. Some might call his little episode 'sulking', but as he rested in the throes of his personal reality, Kaname found himself alone, simmering in thoughts he was resolute in denying. This denial was the second stage in a small series leading to acceptance. However, Kaname is a pureblood, and has much more time than us to stew in his sentiments and regrets before he is at peace.

Everybody else in his building was sleeping or very good at pretending to be asleep, and as Kaname looked out the window to see the recently-awoken Day Class emerge from their dorms, he couldn't help automatically searching for the one carrying the scent wafting so soothingly through his window. It calmed him, now. Last night, Seiren found him feverish and had him at his desk with several glasses and medicines. His breathing had returned to its deathly sluggish pace, and he felt his heart under his control… or at least more than what was the new norm.

His eyes found the holder of that pretty aroma, and he watched as Zero mingled with Yuki and distastefully acknowledged some of her squealing friends. He was in a bad mood, too. Imagine that. Either way, it did not concern Kaname. Earlier, it had been too late to engage the Headmaster in the solving of Zero's 'problem', but now that Kaname wasn't panting and clawing at an ex-human, he found himself capable of rousing the hyper blonde. But, he did have his limitations when it came to the sunlight, this morn; i: he was already very lethargic and somewhat sick, and the natural light wasn't about to help him by any means, ii: going outside would mean having to deal with droves of fans, and he wasn't about to risk losing his temper to a bunch of high school brats, and iii: Zero's scent was already starting to affect him as it became just slightly stronger, and he found his hands gripping the sill as he leaned out into the morning air to appreciate the enveloping safety that was that comely, floral essence. Eyes closed to the glare of the star, he focused only on the incoming breeze forcing the fragrance to his awaiting nostrils.

Kaname caught himself, cursed, and pulled the curtains so not even the smallest stream of light came in. He felt like screaming when he realised he subconsciously left the windows open, but didn't bother going through with the chore of closing them, 'retreating' to his bedroom for a restless sleep.

-

"If you'd look at page 56, you could see parts of their profiles!" Said one of the girls surrounding Zero.

"Uwa! He's taller than my uncle!"

"How tall is your uncle?"

"Almost 6' 4", I think! You wouldn't know we're related-I'm 5' 1"!" They giggled relentlessly, and it was starting to piss Zero off. He angled to walk from the group, but Yuki caught his arm and asked him why he was leaving.

"I'm going to the lavatory; I'll see you in class." Yuki smiled and shooed him to his business, still talking to the other girls. Zero walked quickly through the crowds to the bathroom. Once he reached it, he resolved to loiter for the amount of time it would take to convince Yuki. He washed his face and dried it off, trying to kill as much time as possible before having to run to the classroom.

He finished with his little cleansing ritual, and looked up in the mirror to see if he had gotten scraped at all during his encounter with Kaname. No blood meant no scabs, so he wasn't bothered by it. But when he leaned on the sink to take a breather, he shot away from it in pain, gripping his hip shakily and bending forward slightly. He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and reviewed where he thought it hurt. The tinge of yellow signalling a bruise teased him, then slipped below his waistline and sight to play with the skin he didn't like anyone to see.

He threw himself into one of the stalls and undid his belt, sliding down his trousers and underwear to get a decent look at the mar on his body.

"Shit!" he spat when he spied the nasty-looking purple. He brushed his finger against it and hissed at the pain that seeped through the spot and straight to his head. He shuffled his hands around the rest of his lower body, looking for any other sparks of pain that might hinder general movement. He didn't, so he pulled up his pants and leaned against the stall.

He jumped away immediately, holding back a shout at the painful disturbance on his shoulder blades and lower back. If the one on his hip had been bad, he didn't want to bother with the marks so close to his spine and thousands of nerve endings. He fixed his clothing and left the bathroom, wondering how much time was left to get to class. He was answered by the shrill ring of a bell.

"Shit!" he spat again, racing down the hall, up the stairs, and to his class. He shot through the door and the teacher yelled at him, giving him a demerit and a warning. Zero grumbled under his breath and Yuki raised her eyebrows at his ruffled appearance and… limp. She hadn't bothered to notice it before, but now it stood out invariably in his usually relaxed or very, very tense posture. It worried her because, to her knowledge, Zero hadn't been doing anything violent lately or acting out at all. Unless… the Night Class… Yuki wanted to solve this problem now, but she knew Zero wouldn't tell her. The first thought on her mind was he had messed with the Nobles, but that seemed a little unlikely: they hadn't even paid attention to him lately, much less challenged him. But that would pretty much leave Kaname. And, while not entirely impossible, that Kaname would rough Zero up so badly meant something a bit more than a scrabble was going on.

She watched Zero as he winced when he sat down, worried as ever and growing somewhat vexed. Why was it so hard for them to get along? Yuki could come up with multiple answers-she wasn't so naïve-but all of them combined couldn't amount to something as bad as a real fight. When she thought of Zero and Kaname fighting, however… what exactly had Zero used to defend himself?

She prayed silently for peace while Zero grimaced at a grade on his test paper.

-

Ichijo had been too hyper for his own good.

"Oh, hey: if you look on page 56, they tell you how tall they are… damn."

"What?" Kain asked tiredly. Aidou had kept him up most of the night with his homicidal fantasies, and the taller cousin had only just barely been able to contain him. He feared for his relative's health, but his obsession with harming Zero was critical at this point. Kain didn't know what he would hate more: hurting Aidou or Aidou killing Zero. The latter would end up troubling everyone, but Kain was hesitant to touch a hair on the other blonde's head if he wasn't trying to put it back into place. Ichijo shoved the manga in his face excitedly and told him to read the passage. He squinted,

"Oh, come on: nobody's 6', 6" and not on some sort of basketball team." He argued. Ichijo pouted,

"Brighten up, will you? I think Aidou needs it." It was true, and not very hard to see, at that. Aidou hadn't spoken to anyone. Kain hadn't even wanted him to come to class in his state, but Aidou had refused to 'lay on his ass' all day. Since they had left their dorm, the shorter male had clung to him relentlessly, not exactly touching him, but keeping so close it was obvious he wanted no one to talk to him. Nevertheless, he managed to shoot the surprisingly happy Ichijo a very displeased glare. The other boy smiled and gave him some space, and both Aidou and Kain walked through the gates to their class. Kaname hadn't come from the dorms yet. They assumed he would not join them. And they were right, of course.

_-_

_Kaname was back at the spot in the forest with Zero. The boy was seething and Kaname couldn't help the way he reacted to the strong scent the silver crown emitted._

"_Why are you even…"_

"_Because it would help!" Kaname said forcefully. Zero glared at him and before he could react, Kaname found himself shoved against one of the many trunks around him. He kept as much control as he had and focused it on his hands, but that strength was quickly waning as Zero pressed against him. Then he felt it; the surge in the boy that meant he was going to be very hostile, and very… domineering, in a very short amount of time._

_Kaname felt the fingers around his neck fan out and loosen, giving him the ideal moment to throw the boy off without seriously hurting either of them or attracting attention, but then the touches softened. Zero's hands seemed to caress his naturally sensitive collar bone in foreshadow to what the very conscious pureblood had previously proposed. But even with those fingers pressing deep into his nerves, that body shoved against him, towering over him dominantly, and that place inside of him urging him to give in to the scent and his instincts, Kaname still managed a small growl and a push strong enough to at least deter Zero for a moment._

_The pale boy growled back at him and Kaname adjusted his jacket. When he looked up, he saw the tell-tale red eyes burning in Zero's skull. He shivered at having that look thrust at him-that greed reserved for monsters and the lowest of creatures. Kaname found his hands clinging to his jacket while his gaze challenged Zero to charge him again. When the ex-human took a step forward, Kaname braced himself against the tree._

"_Why are you even suggesting something like that when you don't even want to run the trial?" _

_How could you say something like that?_

_Zero grinned ever-so slightly as Kaname shivered against the tree,_

"_Why would you tempt something you find so despicable? Or do you have fun being contradictory and indecisive?" Zero's hand reached out slowly and cupped Kaname's jaw. The brunette's legs were close to shaking and only his arms kept his body from crumbling. The desire to succumb and simply let go was almost overpowering him, and the memory of Zero's hands on him combined with that palm just gently brushing his face; Kaname truly didn't know how long he could last against this harassment. Zero's hand slid down and brushed Kaname's collar away, the other slipping further and undoing the brunette's somewhat rumpled white jacket. He kept up with this until Kaname's entire shoulder was bare, and then decided he wanted to see more. Kaname's hand met his wrist when he started to shuffle the rest of man's jacket and shirt to the ground,_

"_Stop. Now." He growled in warning. Zero delicately removed the hand and pressed up against him entirely. Kaname let out a light groan that peaked Zero's ears. The pureblood closed his eyes when the touches ceased, and he began to do up his shirt again._

_Then, he felt his arms yanked back and around the tree, cool metal clicking around his wrists as he struggled in opposition to the axis that remained to be the scents and their embodiment in Zero's cool, lean form. He felt silver beneath the thin steel plating. Zero came back from around the tree and stared into Kaname's narrowed eyes. They smouldered with a feral blaze, but Zero could easily see the light glaze creeping along the sides the flaring iron irises. He smirked,_

"_You told me to do this, so why are you fighting me, now?" Kaname refused to answer, but glared directly at Zero. His vision was blurring and his heart rate had long since picked up, speeding him into that same, irresistible euphoria he had known nights ago._

"_You are overstepping your boundaries, Kiriyu; get these cuffs off of me and return to your dorm." His fists fought the cool, streamline circlets of chain and his brow furrowed in concentration. He had learned how to get out of these. He learned… something was stopping him from fully resisting. He tried to fight that, too, but it quickly overturned him and his eyes glazed fully. Zero's smirk grew in satisfaction as he leaned in to graze Kaname's neck. The brunette's knees almost buckled, so Zero held his waist with a free hand. That scent was stopping him. That 'thing' inside his body that clawed and clamoured for relief and redemption from Kaname's breaking will. It overcame his senses, and again was he left to look on and just feel as his body betrayed him in a sick way._

_Zero's leg brushed against his 'sickness' and Kaname moaned into his shoulder. Zero laughed quietly, turning the pureblood's head so he could look directly into Kaname's eyes. Then his head slowly lowered until his chin rested in the niche between Kaname's shoulder and his neck. Kaname withered beneath the close sensation and his hands grew fitful under the keep of the cuffs._

_The silver crown snarled beside Kaname's very responsive skin and felt as his captive twisted his arms for release. Zero let his fangs just lightly scrape the pale skin, and his hand shot up to Kaname's mouth to keep in the shout the man tried to let out._

"_Shh," He said reassuringly, breaths cooling the junction while his free hand slid the rest of Kaname's shirt from his body. Zero made sure to keep his breathing as quiet and slow as possible, purposefully slowing his ferocious, rabid heart. Kaname's soldiered on at an inhuman rate, pounding fiercely in his chest as he battled the need to cry out for relief from Zero's careful touches. The red-eyed man held Kaname gently, driving him insane as he just lightly lapped at a pretty, pale column. His hand kept at Kaname's mouth as the man tried to scream._

"_A man in your position must not attract attention to himself. Who knows what others might find, if they were to come out at such an hour?" Kaname writhed between Zero and the tree, looking up from his slant into smug, covetous eyes. He moaned again and Zero smiled at his small amount of control._

_He rubbed against the bite area with a leisurely pace, stroking with his teeth the periodically tensing, but soft flesh. He brought his head up to Kaname's ear for less than a moment,_

"_You are going to like this very much, Kuran. You know that?" And Zero allowed his teeth to scrape harshly across his quarry, beads of blood shocking the air and lifting a full-bloomed scent that made them both shiver in ecstasy. Kaname barely held in another scream as Zero's teeth caught him lightly over and over. Never sinking too deep, only making wounds big enough to lap blood from. Kaname's nails grew out and he clawed at the tree, feeling the bark lodge itself beneath his fingertips as Zero tore him apart, piece by piece. His lips pursed and held in a brutal yell as Zero stuck his tongue into one of the small punctures before it faded. Zero smiled and did it gain, loving his control over the proud male as he reduced him to a quivering mass of scars and screams._

_The brunette flinched when the boy rubbed him especially hard, accepting it as a warning of what was to come. Then, Zero bit down. He let Kaname's scream ring out as much as it wanted as his mouth lathered the penetration, teeth moving around as he sucked his fill from the other man. His knee rubbed more interestedly into Kaname's groin and the man trembled pitifully under the touches, tongue pushing small words past his lips while the fantasy expanded. He lapped harshly at the wound he had made, basking in the intoxicating scent of the warm blood. The hand that wasn't holding Kaname's hips tickled the pureblood's stomach and made its way down to the button on his pants. Kaname's eyes flew open as he heard the quick clink of his buckle._

N… no…?

_He squirmed as Zero held him tighter, hand pulling his trousers to his knees and then pausing as it caressed him through his shorts. Kaname bucked madly, urging whatever was left in him to stop the crazed hunter from going further. The hand left him and shot to his face, pulling it close to the silver crown's as the boy released the quickly healing wound._

"_You would do well to try and enjoy this; I'm not stopping if you don't." And he dove for the brunette's neck, penetrating Kaname again while his palm wandered down to the band of soft, black shorts. The brunette closed his eyes and gasped when Zero climbed into the last of his clothing, caressing and nursing his very interested cock. His head dipped as he held in another scream, throat taut at the effort while Zero double-pleasured him. The hand began stroking him and Zero smirked wryly into the twitching flesh, his opposite hand softly soothing Kaname's shivering side as it held him from the ground. It wrapped fully around him, reaching the tree trunk and embracing the shuddering body in a consuming hug the slumped man sobbed into._

_Zero tore away from Kaname's neck, lapping at the flesh that had come with him as it clung to his lip. He devoured it and watched as the ethereal skin healed hastily. The pureblood's eyes shut tight for most of their experience, if not, then either half-lidded in pleasure and abandonment or widened to the stars with an unearthly scream. Zero's face came close to Kaname's and he stared into those pretty, submissive eyes. Their cheeks brushed and Kaname shivered again, the hand catering to his arousal moving more harshly, now._

"_There's one step left, Kuran." Zero spoke quietly as he nudged Kaname's chin to rest on his shoulder. The man stirred in the safety of captor's suffocating embrace, creatures lurking in the dark as they traced the scent of his blood, not daring to attack him while he was so active. His fangs grew past his lips and he inhaled Zero's scent: peonies about to explode, ready to bloom at any second as he reached for Zero's flesh with an anticipated, lustful glaze in his eyes. Zero breathed deeply as he pierced him on command, the smell of flowers, blood, and sex enveloping them in a drunken high. They both gasped and Kaname nearly choked on the strong, brutal taste of the ex human's bitter blood. He sucked eagerly, Zero's strokes becoming erratic as flowers exploded in their vision. Kaname wriggled as he reached completion, shouting into the wound that healed thanks to his own blood. The light-eyed boy gripped his side, and when he finished, he gasped wildly, Zero leaning into a surprise of a kiss that left Kaname wide-eyed and crumpled. They shared each other's tastes and Zero threaded the hand that had held his partner through thick brown hair. Kaname's wrists bled as he rubbed furiously against his bonds. The other broke the kiss and Kaname whined, mouth sore and unoccupied, leaning into pain as he tried to reconnect._

_Zero brought his eyes up to watch him, slowly licking the pureblood's ejaculate from his fingers. Kaname groaned pitifully, struggling and fighting as much as he could as one corner of his mind screamed in the thrill and another raged at the devastation of his pride. Zero disappeared and Kaname's head flung this way and that, the scents and fluids drowning him in confusion. He felt the cuffs on his wrists drop to the ground and he spun to catch Zero. He flung them to the soil, ravaging the open mouth urgently while his hands touched whatever was offered to them with frenzied haste._

_His fingers brushed Zero's groin and he desperately undid the buckle holding him from the boy's pleasure. Zero grunted as Kaname roughly forced his trousers down, hand gripping his erection and pulling the energy right out of him. The brunette positively writhed on top, Zero's hands all over him and his hands on Zero. Then, the silver crown sat up abruptly, holding Kaname's waist to keep him from toppling off even as he clung so frantically. Zero kissed him heavily and lured him down, finally getting his head to the level of his hand._

_Kaname understood and lapped at Zero's penis like a starving dog, careful not to brush flesh with fangs and displease his 'master'. Zero sighed and groaned, hand still threading Kaname's hair while the brunette swallowed him as far as his throat would allow. The hand moved to his shoulders and stroked them with quick adoration, in awe of the perfect body but too distracted to offer much gentleness._

_Kaname's tongue wove itself over and around Zero's erection, licking hungrily and bringing much-appreciated hisses and groaned from the sweaty, bloody ex-human. A strangled sound alerted him of Zero's nearing completion, and he pushed himself so hard his jaw hurt, totally enraptured by Zero's cry as he came in his mouth. Fluid spilled over the side of his mouth, and he watched, hunched over, as it dripped onto the grass. He was panting quickly, wiping the white from his mouth when Zero sighed and fell back into the hold of the ground, soiling his clean jacket. Kaname didn't move, entranced by the small pools on the forest floor. The other male watched him idly for a moment, then tugged him over, surprising him enough that he grabbed onto the dirtied jacket tightly, as if expecting Zero to toss him. Instead, the boy settled him on his chest, leaning back and yawning._

_Zero petted his head tenderly, stewing in the afterglow as Kaname awaited instruction in their tired hug. He looked up to meet grey, weary eyes,_

"_You would do well to leave these things to your dreams."_


	5. Chapter 5

Kaname woke with a jolt and a gasp; he had to stop this.

He rubbed his sweaty forehead and pushed the hair from his face, staring at the ceiling as the last effects of sleep trickled from his body. He was left prone and cold on the mattress, listening to the wind catch the curtains at his window. He began to push the sheets and quilts away to look for the clock, but he froze in place. He hadn't…

He sniffed the air.

He had.

He threw the sheets from his body and they blew apart, threads exploding and falling to the floor while he stomped to his bathroom. He turned on the shower and slammed the glass door so hard it shattered at his feet. Scrubbing at his body in anger, he kept the subconscious responsibility to not spill blood. He very well could have, if he wanted everyone to go mad.

He shut off the nozzle, nearly bending it before he ripped a towel from the rack and stormed into his study. The curtains opened to him and he leaned out the window, bedroom and bathroom destroyed. At least they were places nobody else would see. He could clean up easily enough and just tell Cross he'd opened the door too harshly. Which wasn't untrue, just not detailed.

Kaname sighed and ran his hands through his wet hair, tugging at the fibres and yanking a few out before shaking them off and resting on the sill. What the Hell was going on? He couldn't have one moment of peace without his subconscious toying with him. He looked up into the sky and watched the flickering moon as it played hide-and-seek in the incoming clouds. His breath was heavy and the breeze outside blew it into his face. His eyes widened at the scent he received. He shied away from the window until he was hidden by the curtain. The hanging tassel of the tall fabric brushed him lightly, and he moaned heartily, shoving his palm over his mouth abruptly. He ran his hands over his body, one resting on his neck and he gasped at how sensitive it was at the moment. A quick realisation hit him and he ran back to the bathroom so he wouldn't spill his stomach out the window.

The acid hit his tongue and clawed at it ruefully. He choked and heaved and when he was done, flushed the toilet and ran water over his face and shaking hands. He looked into the mirror above his sink, loathing the dark circles and empty paleness that had recently seeped in. He dunked his head beneath the cool run of water, relishing the steaming water on his freezing skin. Then, he turned it off and walked back to his bedroom.

There was nothing left of the sheets but a mess of thousands of lone threads, so he shuffled them all together and had them pour into the wastebasket. He closed the window in his study and drew the curtains together tightly, tying them up so he wouldn't be tempted to look away from his work when he got around to it. No more distractions, he thought as he stuck half his body out of the bedroom window. He smelled the light air of the night at the school: people, books, the pines, and occasionally, the small flowers that could pop up along the walkways. He looked out into the trees, elbows resting on the hard sill as the wind played gently with his towel.

"I need to face this, eventually." He mused half-heartedly, too lost in his own thoughts to register he'd spoken. "Can't very well confront Zero, though," his fingers lightly brushed the white casing of the window, tapping on the wood as if nothing at all was happening. When there was no one to disturb it, the night could be quite beautiful. He supposed people thought the same things about daytime, but there was something so peaceful about the dim glow of a blanket of stars, congealed in a mess of faint light above the quiet nocturnal life and quieter wind. He closed his eyes and allowed his senses to run free like a dog in a park, smiling at what he found.

There was a small stream rushing through the wood about ten minutes away, animals jumping in and over it all along its path. About five minutes away, he could hear a squabble between two mammals, probably over a den or some food. His nose picked up the smell of the trees and the musk of territory boundaries left by the more dominant creatures. To his luck, there were a few flowers growing around him: wild pansies and violets, a primrose here and there, and then of course the roses that had been planted in every which place. He smiled at Cross's eccentricity, and leaned closer into the enfolding darkness outside his window. The night air cooled his skin comfortably, and he found himself relaxing into its confident hold, okay with it all as long as neither was disturbed.

His ears perked at the sound of that gate being opened. Classes had ended, and he reached for the clasps to close and lock the window before anything else hit him. But it only took the faintest waft just before they closed to stop him from moving. Peonies. They were blooming, now. The flowery scent and earthy undertones slowly convinced his arms to open the windows a little more, and then relax so he wouldn't try to close them again. He bent out once more, hands squeezing the hard, lifeless wood of the sill and begging for something more. His ears strained to hear the voice that could command him so effortlessly, and he forgot about the taste of sickness in his mouth and the bitter stone sitting cold in his stomach. Zero was safety. Zero was comfort and… pleasure. The familiar warmth tingled in his fingertips and he sighed contentedly, but lonely when he realised he couldn't touch the man of his dreams.

The patter of feet reached him alongside the whispers and taunts of high school life. The cheering of human girls was a constant undertone, but Kaname strained his ears for the voice he had been longing to hear. He easily located the boy and stared blindly into the blue, black, and silver of the night, eyes half-lidded and focusing solely on that scent, that voice, and who and what accompanied them closely. Yuki, of course; the girls; Ichijo… He should have gone to class.

-

Zero's nose tickled and he swatted at in annoyance. On and off throughout the night, that scent had been revealing itself to him. He now recognised it now: heliotrope. Cross had once pointed it out at the botanical gardens when they went with Yuki. She had wanted to see the sunflower maze and Cross had been plenty happy with their famous rose garden. Zero hadn't enjoyed himself beyond seeing Yuki happy and Cross weep when he spilled his ice cream. The man was beyond eccentric…

Aidou shot him a nasty glare as he shuffled alongside Kain. Zero glared back distractedly, not really caring at the moment. What interested him, though, was that Kain was giving both Zero and his cousin weary looks. The two blondes stayed very close to each other, and did not respond to any proposed conversations from their peers, much less their whimpering fans. A couple of girls pointed out that—because Aidou had given Zero such a look— it must somehow be the Disciplinary Committee's sole male's fault. They began a group glare aimed at his back, and he rolled his eyes at their fickle contempt as a few angled away and harassed other Moon Dorm residents.

Ichijo ran up to Yuki in excitement and showed her his favourite part in the manga they had been discussing. She bit back a squeal and her face flushed with short thrill as they hurriedly went over their most beloved characters and the condensed plot. Zero didn't mind Ichijo, calm and kind as he was, but the threat level went up whenever anybody like him approached Yuki, and Zero kept on guard just like all the times before. When Ichijo rushed off to bother his classmates, Yuki let out her quiet 'eep' and seemed so hyper, Zero feared she wouldn't sleep when their duty was over.

The last of the Night Class filtered out, and the two directed the rest of the Day Class back to their dorms. Zero was scowling as hard as ever as the girls sighed over 'which was the hottest' and distressed over where Kaname was. Truth be told, he didn't know either. That said, he really didn't care. One less bloodsucking demon to worry about. However, the pureblood's disappearance had caused quite the stir: he always seemed busy with one matter or another, but his attendance was impeccable.

Zero sighed with a weight on his shoulders. He didn't want to remember anything about Kaname; didn't even want to know his name. Yuki almost helped him with that, allowing him to keep away his demons for the short walk from the gates to the Sun Dorm and their respective quarters. He smiled at her when she spoke to him, nodding and giving responses when she looked at him questioningly, little brown eyebrows raised in inquiry. Yuki was safety. Yuki was comfort. Yuki smelled like the sunflowers she used to get lost in. Zero inhaled to get that scent, but another pushed it aside. Heliotrope. The burst of colour and many blooms of the obnoxious flower pushed aside the soothing warmth of his time with Yuki and replaced it with the cool of a lake in winter.

She waved to him and said goodnight as she climbed the stairs in the girl's dorm. Zero walked on with the solemn greyness depressing and angering him alternately while the moon watched from the sweet, docile safety of the night he loathed.

-

Aidou wiped at his eyes with frustration. Kain watched the boy, reclined and easy on his bed. Across the room, the drapes tightly drawn, sat the small blonde at his desk. His hands were moving from his hair to his sides to his face and playing with pens in between. He grunted every so often, and each time, Kain broke down a little more until he sighed, got up, crossed the floor, and hugged the tense frame, waiting for him to relax and, for God's sake, _talk_.

"This is pathetic!" Wish granted; Aidou shouted through his mumbling. He tried to withdraw from Kain's grasp, but when the windows crackled with slivers of ice, the man held him fast and hurriedly melted the anomaly before people loitering outside could see.

"I want him dead!" Aidou screeched, tugging on Kain's sleeves as solid streaks of ice formed on his cheeks. Kain touched them and thawed the ice presented to him, melting the tears without question, as usual, as if he were born to. He brought Aidou's face close to his and nuzzled his forehead adoringly, smoothing out the wrinkles on his back. Aidou looked up into the calm, capable eyes and his frown turned into a snarl, but he looked away before saying anything that might get him into more trouble. Kain took initiative: he turned the boy's head back to him, hands firm on his cheeks, treating him like the child he sometimes was.

"Kiriyu is not at fault. Kaname would do anything for Ms. Yuki to preserve their happiness and peace. Everything happening with them is under Kaname's control, and he is perfectly capable when it comes to dealing with an ex-human. This anger is misplaced." Aidou listened begrudgingly, temper flaring at some parts, his cheeks at others. When Aidou stopped crying, the other drew away and opened the curtains a little, looking out into the late night. After a few moments he closed them again. Aidou briefly wondered what he had been looking at.

"Kaname knows perfectly well what he is doing, and we are in no place to question his logic." He tied the fabric together so it wouldn't come undone and went back to his cousin, relishing the scent he'd grown up with. Aidou did the same as Kain lavished him with his tranquilising affection. How the man still managed to quell his vehement frustration perplexed Aidou greatly. But he curled into the other male as his murderous fantasies plagued the atmosphere once more, Kain finding it harder and harder to melt and evaporate all of the ice and water congealing in their room. Aidou was getting worse.

-

Zero's feet stopped slowly and he looked up from the ground and into the expansive forest. His eye twitched and he furrowed his brow: there was nothing threatening that he could sense, but a wary tingle crept up and down his spine. The wind blew the rushes against each other, and he started up his feet again. He kept walking until he found his dorm steps. But he didn't make to move toward them. Instead, he stopped briefly in consideration, looked ahead of him and into the moonlit catch of the Night Dorms, and tentatively stepped in the direction of the scent taunting him.

_Heliotrope,_

His memories of the small purple flower didn't end with his visit to the gardens. He remembered his mother and father setting bouquets in the kitchen window. He remembered how they dried, sluggishly wilting and turning brown to drop, bloom by bloom, onto the sill and counter. He remembered picking some with his brother when they were very small, always conscious of the boy and always making sure he stayed away from nests and hives hidden in the brush. Ichiru had trusted him, then. Trusted him beneath the purple gazes of the silent flora while they smiled and shared secrets he knew neither of them would ever tell. Heliotrope was pretty, but Zero's memories made it sour.

He shook his head and dutifully followed the enticingly interesting scent, finding himself standing directly beneath a large, open window with a dreamy figure standing half-out of it. Zero stared at the man listlessly, a faint stirring of his memories keeping him in his little voyeuristic reverie_._

Kaname, on the other hand, was more active with his thoughts. His fingers still danced on the painted wood every now and then, twirling in tune to soundless music while he watched the moon softly sink in and below clouds. They were approaching steadily, now, their moisture entrapping the scent trails tracing the air. He could hear fine, but he wasn't necessarily looking for something to _listen to_ in his rather pensive state. The place smelled heavily of water, and when the first mist of drops came around, Kaname reached out a hand and caught one. As he looked down into his palm, the somewhat faint scent of peonies still warping his mind, he saw the very possessor of the gorgeous cologne.

The sphere of water slid from his hand to his floor as his arms dropped to his sides. He stared unabashedly at Zero, almost primitive in his desire for the other male. Zero stared back up at him with a force in his eyes that told Kaname he should very well

_Come._

And Kaname climbed into the open window as the rain poured harder outside, not risking the hallway and other students as he jumped to the ground, landing with the quietist _click_ on the jumbled cobblestone. He rose and watched Zero with few questions as the other came toward him. A hand reached up and touched Kaname's cheek, and he nuzzled it involuntarily. Zero smiled-much more softly than he had in the dream as he held Kaname's porcelain cheek. He removed his hand and Kaname looked up at him fervently, disturbed greatly by the loss of comforting touch.

"There's more cover in the forest. I know you wanted to talk." Kaname gazed blankly at him, taking a few seconds to regain at least a little composure. Zero's smile faded into a small tug of the lips as Kaname's eyes lost their faithful glaze. The pureblood's eyes then narrowed as he gained more control of his body, but the presence in his mind still kept checked reins. Zero stepped aside and motioned with his hand that the other walk into the wood. Kaname strutted past him airily, but his body quivered as he came so close to the silver crown, a growing part of him wishing to surrender to him, but only allowing the small falter in his steps as indication of his conflicted mind. Zero's smile was larger and quite genuine as he followed the man into the shield of the trees.

They passed the path, a stream, and neared the lake before they found good enough coverage from the rain. When they had settled beneath the trunks, well-hidden in the blotting water, Kaname's head snapped up and he began.

"I have a proposition concerning your blood intake." Zero raised his eyebrows in a show-and-tell of unsurprised mockery, but said nothing.

"It is unacceptable that you are turning to Yuki for compensation." Kaname stopped short, fighting with himself in more ways than he wanted at his next words. "If you need anything...." he paused in contemplative disgust, "you can come to me." Zero's eyes narrowed and he stood up straight. Kaname didn't sense anger, but Zero bristled briskly. He looked up with little shame as the other's brusque grey eyes held him focused. Zero walked toward him, leaning down under the hush of pine branches. Kaname had a whisper of a thought in his head: but, Zero was shorter than him. Wasn't he? A hand coolly brushed his hair aside, and Kaname visibly shivered and sucked in a gasp at the light brush of fingers on his sensitive neck. Zero leaned close to his face, Kaname's eyes still boring into him daringly even as his body shook uncontrollably. Then, the pureblood pushed Zero from him, battling the weakness in his throat that clamoured for his touch.

"This agreement does not constitute a relationship beyond necessity. I'm giving you my neck, not anything else." Zero seemed to snap out of his hazy aura, and that same, brisk tension Kaname knew so well again dominated the air. The silver crown stood tensely, a deep frown featured on his face while his knuckles grew white from clenching his palms so barbarically hard. Kaname's gaze never left him, putting up somewhat of a daring defence considering the whisper in his mind to offer anything and everything he had. Zero gritted his teeth and, with a stressed, hoarse voice, told Kaname exactly what he thought of the idea,

"I refuse." Kaname's patience withered slightly.

"You don't have a choice."

"Who are you to say that?!" Zero barked defensively. He snarled, unconscious of the fact that he was bearing his fangs to a man who could have him snapped in two or ripped apart in a matter of seconds. Still, his bull-headed pride stood in the way of lowering himself to… that. Not that he wasn't low enough, already. Meanwhile, Kaname's irritated glare had turned into a bitter- cold look. He was more than agitated by the boy's arrogance.

"I'm saying it as the one protecting Yuki and you, alike. I'm saying it as probably the only other person who wants to keep you alive!" He fought the tingle in his fingertips that meant his claws were starting to grow out. The hair on the back of his neck stood with the shivers of rage, prickling with the urge to tear the man apart while the part of him involved in the dreams looked on sceptically as he debated whether or not to let go and kill the boy. It dared him: it knew he wouldn't do it, and that hurt his pride immensely.

Zero huffed angrily and began to trudge back to the school. Kaname had his feet stop, then let the paralysis move up the boy's spine until it stopped all resistance. Zero could have screamed in fury, had his lips not been held by the irksome male walking toward him.

"If you care about Yuki, you will do this. Or is she of no import to you?" Zero growled deep in his throat, and Kaname could have smiled in bemusement as he felt the silver crown trying desperately to regain control. He gave the other his mouth and waited for bitter words to fly in his face, but they never came. Zero simply stared at him, seething while his energy further darkened the rain-shrouded night. Both of them stood silently while the rain hit them unabatedly, nature eroding their scents and proving to be very useful in subduing some rather nasty parts of your conscious.

"Fine." Zero said brusquely, somewhat shocking Kaname after such a heavy silence. Relief washed over the disgust he felt for offering something so important to such a person, but something darker than the both of them knotted his stomach at the thought of both of their sacrifices. It was all for her, until their dying breaths… the knot grew tighter until it strangled his tongue, and they made their pact under in a place no one could care to see.

Kaname was on edge again.


	6. Chapter 6

_Kaname grabbed the edge of the long formal table, running his hands along the wood in boredom. He looked up at the tall ceiling with little interest, a sigh on his lips as the gigantic chandelier wavered with the slam of a door and the commotion of guests. His eyes wandered about the hall, dark wood lit by sparkling glass and waning candles. There was some sort of function going on—he didn't really know what it was, but for some reason, his attendance was absolutely mandatory. He couldn't persuade anyone to help him out of it. He sighed again: it might have been better if he had at least known what was happening._

"_Kaname, are you ready?" Kaname looked back to his mother. She was gorgeous as usual, silken Regency gown tied high in a white bow while turquoise folds cascaded to her feet. Her stomach swelled with something she called a 'sibling'. He hoped he wouldn't catch a disease like that. All this aside, he nodded his little head and pulled his sash so it would straighten. Juuri smiled and leaned down to look him in the eye._

"_Do you know what today is?" She asked him quietly, excitement blooming in her lullaby-like voice. He shook his head, irritated and eager at the same time and urging her with his little hands to tell him what was happening._

"_Today, your father is going help everyone. Today, we're going to make a lot of friends." Kaname furrowed his brow. Friends, his father had said, were very important in the business and political worlds. Kaname had seen more than fifty summers of 'friends' coming over. His favourite, by far, had been his father's 'best friend'. He had of course learned the young man's name, but the man, himself, had instructed Kaname to call him 'Brother'. Kaname had been perfectly fine with this, if not a little insecure at first in Brother's presence. He hadn't seen the man in a very long time. Kaname doubted either of the men had been getting on very well, for his father bristled whenever he asked after Brother's well-being._

_His mother led him out of the formal dining room and into the ballroom and the mass of evening gowns and tailored suits. Small as he was, Kaname could very easily get lost in the expansive, decadent paradise, but Juuri's guiding hand took him swiftly to the safety of the veranda and his father's presence. She talked briefly with her husband, a familiar head revealing itself during their conversation._

"_Brother!" Kaname yelled, running to the man smiling weakly in a chair._

"_KANAME!!" Haruka boomed, catching his son as the small boy ran to the other male. Kaname froze in his arms, and stared as Brother struggled to get up, arguing with his Father. Juuri motioned to take the boy, but Haruka stopped her and simply set Kaname in a chair across from himself and Brother, asking his wife to leave them. She complied, and Haruka wearily kneaded his brow._

"_Kaname, do you know what day it is?" Brother asked weakly a few moments later. Haruka's gaze shot up warningly, but Brother ignored him in his attentions to the younger Kuran._

"_Mum told me today we will make many friends." Kaname was young for a vampire, but he had seen enough of the world to know what Brother was to his father. It had disturbed him naturally, but even his mother seemed unbothered by the two men and their in-depth discussions and rendezvous. The war had been cast on both of them, although Haruka's constitution seemed much higher. Even Kaname had worried for the fair, raven-haired man's health. But Brother still managed to smile at him and speak in his soft, kind-hearted voice._

"_Not really… Do you know what I am, Kaname?"_

"_We don't need to go over this, now." Haruka almost barked at his friend. Brother went stiff, but Kaname spoke before either could further respond._

"_They say you are father's pet." Both stalled, Haruka looking about ready to explode._

"_In a way, yes. Do you know what an ex human is?" Kaname's brow twitched. He did not like where this was going, but at least his father was remaining silent._

"_If there's something you need to say to me, please say it, Brother." Haruka shot him a warning look at his lack of respect, but Brother disregarded it and continued._

"_A very long time ago, before you were born, even, I was fully human." He said this rigidly, and battled Haruka's forced silence with an unreadable, blank expression. "One night, I met your father in an alley near my home." Haruka interrupted him with a brief shout,_

"_That's not-"_

"_Then what were you intending to do?!" Brother shook as he stood up abruptly. He crumbled and Haruka lunged with inhuman speed to catch him. The man pushed him away, Kaname watching the intensity as Brother dared fight his father's iron will and capable grip._

"_He caught me in an alley and drained me half to death, then told me he'd let me live." Understanding the mechanics but not the implications, half of the tense meanings slid right over him. Brother shook more violently in his vain effort to escape, and his face looked stricken. Haruka at last released him, and the brunette fell into his chair, breathing heavily._

"_Since then," Haruka added, "he has lived either with or close to me." Brother gripped the arms of the wicker chair and settled into it as best as he could, simply daring father to touch him._

"… _A lot of people don't like it, and so we've made a compromise."_

"_It's not yet official."_

"_Then what is it, Haruka?" The man was silent as Brother snapped, shivering in the hardness of the chair. Kaname scooted off his own seat and tried to help the black-haired man, but Haruka had him stop, waiting for the rest of his friend's words._

"… _Kaname, I'm going to die." Brother said with a quivering voice. Kaname's eyes widened, but Haruka still held him from running frantically toward the other male._

"_What?! Why?!" Brother laughed a little, and managed to turn himself over with great effort, pushing against the creaking wicker with a weak force he could barely use to breathe._

"_Because I am very tired, and everyone in the world knows it's best to put a pet down before it really has to suffer."_

"_They're __**not**__ going to put you down." Haruka grit out angrily. His knuckles were white but he was disturbingly still, watching Brother like a hawk and still keeping the doors locked on their own little world._

"… _is that why everyone's partying?" Kaname asked, "Are they celebrating your death because it has something to do with the humans and the Senate?" Brother froze, then addressed Haruka emptily,_

"_He takes after you, you blunt bastard." Haruka grimaced, almost glaring at the boy before remembering who he was._

_Inside, Juuri networked and danced and drank with the finest of their world. The halls sang with a dull chorus of footsteps, instruments, and mindless voices. The three males heard the din as it was dimmed by the enchanted windows and thick walls. Brother closed his sunken eyes, hiding from the night their starry blue as Haruka reached for him in fear. Fear was something Kaname had almost never seen his father exhibit. At least, not toward someone outside of the family, even if Brother was 'Brother'. Haruka was waved away, but he still approached the man, encroaching upon the dire form and enfolding it in a rapt embrace. He buried his face in the dark hair and Brother smiled with waning brilliance into his friend's competent arm._

"_Kaname, your father is a stupid man. Do not do as he does." Haruka held him tighter, and Brother kept his eyes closed in peace, smiling with sealed lips while he gripped Haruka's incredibly gentle hands. Haruka held the frail body as softly as he could, kissing Brother's head from time to time as his son averted his eyes in respect and embarrassment._

_He turned to the dining room to leave them,_

"_Kaname, please come here for a second," Brother's voice held him back with a quiet urgency he was not ready to hear. He stepped to the man wearily, not looking directly into the eyes that had opened just for him, even if the shocking blue was shallow in the folds of his pale lids. Haruka released him, and Brother leaned down to kiss the top of Kaname's head. He petted the soft skin and little curls, then drew away from the reassuring scent of the little boy._

"_Know that I love you very much, even if something happens and you no longer like me." Haruka gripped the wicker hard, and it crackled beneath the tension. Kaname stared up into Brother's amazing blue eyes, seeing the stars and the water and the sun converge and melt in spirals of blue and silver. Brother stroked his hair lovingly and drew away with the brush of a cheek, closing his eyes again in dismissal as Haruka swathed and hid him from sight. But even if Kaname couldn't see all of him, he still saw Brother's hands clench his father's back as hard as they could, and that same back as it shivered with dread and the smell of tears permeating the summer air. Couples inside counted down to the moment they wept over._

-

Daybreak teased the dusty sky and Kaname lamented over his loss of sleep. He hadn't been in bed for more than an hour before waking with a cold sweat and a rapid heartbeat. His lungs couldn't pump enough air and his claws had punctured and torn the mattress. He shakily wiped his red eyes and sat up in the abused sheets, crossing his legs and arms and watching the sunlight slowly creep onto his carpet. He rather liked landing on hard wood first thing in the morning, but Cross had been adamant in the finest of _creature_ comforts. All understood his bitterness when Zero had heard of it. Decidedly, that wasn't the most peaceful moment, but he'd acted as maturely as he could while the silver crown threw out as many tart insults as _he_ could.

Kaname smiled wryly, an alarm going off in his head as he actually _regretted_ being negative about the boy. God, what was he getting himself into? He certainly wasn't going to entirely surrender to these emotions—he was too logical for that to happen, and vehement in his prideful wish to stop it. But when the coldness of his bed and the empty corners of his mind echoed his undisturbed solitude, he realised this might be something a little more dangerous than he had presumed.

Of course, in the beginning he had overlooked it. A vampire's senses had been known to go off every now and then. A bit of a 'time of the month' thing, really, but nothing especially serious. When his senses had invaded his thoughts, however, Kaname had earned the right to worry. For whatever reason, Zero had not left him to his own for quite some time. The scent of said teenager was of high availability, and caught quite easily the drafts in the halls or even Kaname's study. He had found himself drifting off during conversations to inhale, refusing to face the widened eyes or curious looks of his company.

He sighed, wishing explicitly that all the complications would slide away. He chased this with a firm _Never mind_, the nature of which was constituted by the fact that, if the elaborate designs and little rituals were to 'slide away', he would be left with a very open and plainly primitive _"I want"_ sort of situation. The growing uncontrollable part of his mind urged the disintegration of the little reins that just barely tethered it. It wanted more power over him: the essence of insanity invading his personality in the dark, constricting straps of his primeval nature. He wasn't weak; he was just losing his mind.

He was lost in the ultimatum of an obvious question: "Am I sane?" Of course he was. _Wasn't_ he? Zero already held so much over him, without even knowing his effect. If the boy were ever to find out… Kaname distrusted greater persons. But back to the question. It should be obvious that, if you are ever to seriously question your sanity, you must be insane, right? If you _were_ sane, you wouldn't need to question it at all, would you? The only bit of sanity left to you is the gall which powers your mouth to voice it.

However, these thoughts were not exactly Kaname's. Well, on a level, yes, but his main concern was drifting toward that of his dream. Brother, Father, Mother, things that had escaped him for several months, at least, although Yuki's face was a firm reminder of at least the latter two. But Brother was an anomaly. Never had he again encountered someone who was not vampiric and yet so… enthralling. Brother was not like Zero. Brother had been Father's, to an extent. He had been an ex-human in love with a pureblood who just happened to have equal feelings, something not unheard of, but certainly not acceptable, and certainly not in that time. But Juuri had always been priority, naturally.

Another draft stirred papers in the study, and sneaked through the seams in the doorway, reaching Kaname's twitching nose. Peonies surrounded him in a blanket of comfort and ease, and he felt that Zero was safe and sleeping, for once. They hadn't even shared blood yet, and he could already track the boy in the blink of an eye. Docile and high, Kaname found himself easily enrapt in his daydreams, reminiscing quietly while his fingers played with the pierced bed sheets.

Brother had not been tall. He remembered the man being only slightly larger than his mother, but bright and with quick comebacks. He'd had coarse black hair that was always neatly slicked back with oil, beguiling blue eyes maddening in their ability to entrap your own gaze. He always dressed smartly, preferring comfortable suits or his morning robes to the stiff-necked clothing his peers and betters often wore. His skin could have been pale as the ivory moon, had it not been for his years of work before Haruka's discovery of him. He had been born of better stuff than most of the aristocratic brats Kaname was swarmed with over the years. And he always had his mind, even toward the end of his health he cracked jokes and downed drinks in pubs while his body deteriorated to nothing but dust.

Kaname's head lolled to the side, the flowers making him fuzzy for some reason. He felt drunker than his first experiences with alcohol. Once, on his own with a missing bottle of wine from a party, and later with none other than Brother. The man was a little tipsy, and in a bit of a hostile environment, considering the many intoxicated vampires dancing around him and constantly leering at his vulnerable form. Kaname had not the permit to enter the actual ballroom, but was allowed to rest on the veranda just outside, and of course walk the expansive grounds of his parents' estate.

The gang of well-dressed aristocrats had managed to herd Brother outside, having the windows shut and forcing the frightened ex human to sit in one of the chairs. Kaname had hid himself easily, and they weren't very concerned with anything outside of their 'prey'. But Kaname had growled when they got just a little too close to his shaking elder, and they tore him from his place behind a plant. They urged a couple of glasses down his throat, doing the same to Brother until the man was almost perfectly harmless in his chair. About six going on eighty, Kaname knew very well the effects of alcohol. He had just never tried it.

Soon enough, the world hazed over and the men surrounded Brother. They told him to enjoy himself and began to undo his collar, taking off his jacket and effectively trapping him. When he struggled and slurred for them to stop, they had his lips seal and his muscles relax into their grasp. It was only when one of their wrists snapped did they notice Kaname's growing and, at this point, rather uncontrollable fury.

He smiled in remembrance, seeing again their horrified faces as their clothes ripped apart and they thrashed in the pain consuming their bodies. Drunk and groaning in a chair, Brother had little knowledge of what was happening, but thankfully enough to flop out of his place and console the upset Kaname on the floor. His eyes were heavy: the blue looked watery and still quite scared. His clothes were undone and he laid atop a six year-old as aristocrats slashed at his back in vengeance, blood seeping into the remains of his clothes while their muddled minds fused with primitive nature and bloodlust, and of course the alcohol fuelling them..

When they dove for the cuts and his neck, Haruka blasted the doors open and sent them through the plaster. Brother slumped into Kaname further, losing consciousness due to the drinks and the pain of his wounds. Kaname remembered the sobering effect of Haruka's wrath and worry over the man. The injured vampires escaped quickly into the dance, and Haruka forgot about them for the night as Kaname watched for the first time his father shove his bared neck against the man in an alarmed fear while the rest of his guests were led out by the heavy scent of blood. Haruka's barriers kept them away, and they were all scandalous enough to think it was just another young human being caught in a vampire's gaze. Only the few men knew better.

Kaname hit the sheets once more, closing his eyes on the thoughts of his father's desperation while Brother had just kept bleeding, arms limp and unresponsive while the dark liquid seeped into Kaname's shoes. He'd bent down, realising his growing thirst as he fingered the blood and stared at it hungrily. A relieved breath from his father told Kaname of Brother's belated reaction to the jugular pushing against his mouth. He looked on as Brother slowly grew more and more active, the wounds on his back closing below the shreds of his clothing while his fingers gripped Haruka's loosened collar. He fell back when he was finished and looked at Haruka tiredly, just barely registering the man by the taste on his lips because of the dredge of the drinks. His watered-down bloodshot eyes shut with sleep and Haruka cradled him gently on the floor, gaze finally drifting to his son as he instructed him firmly to return to his room and clean up. He ignored the blood on the boy's fingertips and walked onto the grounds to return Brother to his quarters without being seen. The servants came in shortly after, eyes wide as they hastily cleaned the red-covered floor. None of them noticed Kaname as he slowly brought his fingers to his lips and savoured the exquisite and surprisingly familiar taste of his father's own forbidden fruit.

Perhaps that was what had caught Kaname about Zero: the smell of an ex human's blood. The boy most certainly wasn't as charming as Brother had been, but Kaname had not encountered a sane enough Level D since the blue-eyed beauty, himself. Shizuka's lover had only been revealed to him a number of times, when she even chose to show him to the tight-laced world of purebloods and trusted aristocrats (not a member of the Senate in miles). Security on that man had been tighter than any royal, and he seemed like more of a pretty bird in a dark room than the lover of one of the most influential persons on the planet. Kaname had adored Brother, so maybe had was seeing more of him in Zero than he had previously thought?

Brother had been a constant reminder in his later years of the instability of human life. Until then, he had been sturdy and immortal as any of Kaname's peers, and twice as interesting. Zero, while still interesting, was openly depressing and not in the least reassuring. But, and Kaname inhaled deeply the striking drug of peonies as he thought this, what was this net of safety he felt he had fallen into? What else could this glowing feeling emerging from his body be? Fuck sanity-with just the _reminder_ that the boy was near, and that his intoxicating aroma was at hand, Kaname could explode with happiness and simply give in to this little high as it spread throughout him. Brother was a cloudy memory that made Kaname dive into a sea as blue as his dead eyes. Zero was alive: steely, coarse, grey, and always, always fighting in one way or another. Zero represented the vigour and hardiness of humankind, while Brother represented the mystery and compassion of the way they thought. They were the perfect combination, Kaname reasoned as he further relaxed into the throes of fabric and his nostalgia.

The Kuran Manor in Britain, or rather, the Clan Estate, had been a palace and parade of the decadence of the aristocracy. It bloomed with luxury and was a showcase of the fabulously wealthy few. Most noted were the lake and the gardens, once the actual household was set aside. The lake boasted the most exotic fish, and was occasionally opened to the public when the Clan hosted Royalty. But the gardens… the gardens were just trippy. The pathways had done no good, serving as only a mockery of dwindling sanity as they led off into the depths of a contained jungle. The rarity of the scents inside combined with the abundance of blossoms-found, in some cases, no where else on the planet—could be maddening to a highly sensitive vampire. Haruka joked in good company that, in this case, humans _were_ more powerful. Their ignorance and insensitivity to the potency of the flowers made them prime examples of evolutionary design. They weren't that smart, but they were still resistant to _that_ type of insanity. It certainly explained Haruka's choice of human gardeners-a vampire as astute as his botanical friends could only last so long in that paradise of an asylum.

But Kaname still loved going in there, sniffing the blooms and always ignorant of the high he was experiencing whenever he stepped into the large glass and wire building. He remembered watching Brother through the brush or from the outside. Haruka would almost never accompany him, and the gardeners made sure to leave him to his own whenever he walked through the threshold. Kaname remembered being confused at the odd lack of life in the man's eyes, filtered out by a dark intensity supposedly reserved for the flowers' solemn gazes. He recalled watching the man walk from end to end—a lengthy journey—keeping his eyes on the blooms and stopping every now and then to stroke their fine petals or admire their beauty with a sad smile.

Morose. Kaname rolled over. Brother had been plagued with sadness. He hadn't realised it until much, much later, but Brother's depression very possibly could have had something to do with his latter bad health, a period in which Haruka constantly loomed over one shoulder while Death watched from the other. Kaname had been quaintly surprised that Brother hadn't gone mad with the pressure of his father, the end of his life, and his Level D nature. He'd been stronger than any other man on the planet. He handled more than the weight of his impending doom, strapping Kaname to his back with a smile and raising him on and off while the clocks ticked and his hands shook more and more. His eyes never lost their glimmer if there was someone to please, for better or worse.

Zero did not _come close_ to Brother's perfection. He was interesting and alluring, but Brother… Brother had been the paradox of the vampiric empire. Vampires were powerful, lovely, strong, and could defeat near anything that threatened them. Humans were weak; consequently preyed upon,; doe-eyed and slow. A vampire should never _need_ anything beyond its perfect world. Haruka should never have _needed_ something so below him as a human. Food. Yet he did. And so had Shizuka. Given, Kaname's knowledge of Brother was definitely not as extensive as his father's had been, but it seemed to him that the standards of things to obsess over had lowered through the generations. Zero was crude and hard to control, unwilling to cooperate and inexplicably **annoying**. Yet, as the scent distilled his distaste for the ex human, Kaname's 'resolute' will crumbled into admiration of the other's budding personality and addictive taste. Not that he'd experienced that beyond his 'wildest dreams'.

But as the sun rose further and the sky grew pink, Kaname found himself unable to think badly of Zero. The light sprawled through the cracks in his tightly drawn curtains, and papers in the study shuffled with morning breezes. They carried the boy to him, keeping him dull and useless as he wrapped sheet after sheet around his tired body. If he closed his eyes and used his powers a little, he could force the pillow next to him to grow warm and firm. For a while, this could be his substitute for the missing body in his bed. It was bittersweet.

-

7/8/08 Apology to Hanayume05: I'm sorry you feel that way about Brother. Honestly, I didn't mean to make him seem to be a 'Gary Stu', (snigger) but he really isn't. I'm a little insulted and challenged by your last review, but the other chapters are already written, and I hope they'll be enough to sate you, O Great One. Also: he's not the main character. And I'm sure Haruka and Juuri fucked around more than any of us would want to think about our parents :D

Zero's bruises still hurt him whenever touched, and laying down had not helped him in the least. His roommate had already left for breakfast, staying only long enough after dressing to toss a pillow at his head and yell for him to get up. Not the most pleasant way to greet the world, but he got by. No, if Zero wanted pleasantries, he'd be far, far away. Over the hill and through the woods and parted from the drama and horrors of this abnormal high school life. Thankfully, he'd been too tired to dream when he fell asleep. Hours of patrolling and homework had almost killed him, last night. He did remember wincing when his back hit the pillows before blacking out entirely. Apparently, he'd left the lamp on his desk alight, for he recalled his roommate grumbling about it.

After he rubbed his eyes, he threw the covers off and yawned, standing up and rubbing his sore backside. A breeze came in through the window as he inhaled deeply. He immediately flopped back on the bed, head spinning in a light daze. What the Hell was that? He took in the tinted draft and instantly smelled it: heliotrope. It had never been bad enough to immobilize him like that... Zero grumbled and fiercely tried to block it out, going so far as to cover his mouth and nose while he struggled to sit up. The scent hazed him, acting as a bit of a stopper when it came to controlled movement. Through the smog in his head, he managed to dig around a bit in his bathroom cabinet, finding a sick mask and a rag. He dampened the cloth and stuck it in the mask, strapping all of it to his face and waiting for his body to work again. When it did, he tucked the corners of the rag into the black of the coughing guard and hoped people would pass it off as an attempt to stop a cold from spreading. At least until he made it to the Moon Dorm to confront a currently worse-for-wear pureblood.

He pulled on his uniform and thrust open the door, barging down the hallway and through the crowd of Day Class students. A couple giggled at his rumpled appearance, and the rest just got out of his way. Thank God Yuki was at breakfast.


	7. Chapter 7

7/8/08 Apology to Hanayume05 (anon. signature): I'm sorry you feel that way about Brother. Honestly, I didn't mean to make him seem to be a 'Gary Stu', (snigger) but you've only heard _so_ much of his story. I'm a little insulted and challenged by your last review, but the other chapters are already written, and I hope they'll be enough to sate you, O Great One. Also: he's not the main character. And I'm sure Haruka and Juuri fucked around more than any of us would want to think about our parents :D Now, anybody ready to review for some Kuranccentricity in... that other VK fic of mine with a name that's really too weird for even me to remember...?

* * *

Zero's bruises still hurt him whenever touched, and laying down had not helped him in the least. His roommate had already left for breakfast, staying only long enough after dressing to toss a pillow at Zero's head and yell for him to get up. Not the most pleasant way to greet the world, but Zero got by. No, if Zero wanted pleasantries, he'd be far, far away. Over the hill and through the woods and apart from the drama and horrors of this abnormal high school life. Thankfully, he'd been too tired to dream when he fell asleep. Hours of patrolling and homework had almost killed him, last night. He did remember wincing when his back hit the mattress before blacking out entirely. Apparently, he'd left the lamp on his desk alight, for he recalled his roommate grumbling about it.

After he rubbed his eyes, he threw the covers off and yawned, standing up and rubbing his sore backside. A breeze came in through the window as he inhaled deeply. He immediately flopped back on the bed, head spinning in a light daze. What the Hell was that? He took in the tinted draft and instantly smelled it: heliotrope. It had never been bad enough to immobilize him like that... Zero grumbled and fiercely tried to block it out, going so far as to cover his mouth and nose while he struggled to sit up. The scent hazed him, acting as a bit of a stopper when it came to controlled movement. Through the smog in his head, he managed to dig around a bit in his bathroom cabinet, finding a sick mask and a rag. He dampened the cloth and stuck it in the mask, strapping all of it to his face and waiting for his body to work again. When it did, he tucked the corners of the rag into the black of the coughing guard and hoped people would pass it off as an attempt to stop a cold from spreading. At least until he made it to the Moon Dorm to confront a currently worse-for-wear pureblood.

He pulled on his uniform and thrust open the door, barging down the hallway and through the crowd of Day Class students. A couple giggled at his rumpled appearance, and the rest just got out of his way. Thank God Yuki was at breakfast.

_

* * *

_

Kaname writhed in his bed, conscious thought leaving him as the flowers grew stronger and the presence in his mind pulled ruthlessly at the reins. His mind reeled and he felt Zero. All around him, petals surrounding his little bastion of a body and shoving everything that was **him** with that thing. Zero was coming nearer and nearer, but he was still so far away. Kaname gripped his spinning head with weak hands and curled against his headboard, terrified of how he would be when Zero got even closer. Finally, the strength left his arms and they flopped down on the bed, twitching with life and fear and trying as hard they could to urge his demons to stop.

But he inhaled as deeply as he could with each breath, barely wasting time on exhalation, and the only thing on his mind being getting closer to that fucking scent. But the world spun away from him, dizzying him until the light looked like pale pinpoints in his vision and nausea crept its way into his stomach. He pushed himself so hard against the headboard it cracked at his efforts, before his legs gave in as well. His were dilated and his breathing erratic, panic setting in as lifeless fingers gripped the sheets until all blood drained from them, and his body sweated and paled and his senses pushed off the brink and into-

Sanity?

Everything was fine.

The grandfather clock in his study ticked with its metronome movements,_ and a dull rapping was heard on the other side of the main entrance._

_"Kuran? Open up!"_ Zero. Zero was… here. Why? That episode just now… Zero had done it to him. But the muffled voice should have hit him harder than anything. Right? He gripped his skull with a pale, cold hand, brushing his hair aside shakily. That wasn't a dream. That wasn't a dream and Zero was fucking **_here_**._ He threw off the remaining sheets and went to put on a shirt. When he entered the study, the ceaseless pounding on the door sounded more like a clock ticking along than the time centrepiece, itself. He reached for the lock on the door, switched it open, and walked to his desk, yawning on the way._

_Zero heard the faint click, along with padded footsteps and a ferocious, catlike yawn. He opened the door and stepped inside, catching Kaname in the middle of a very large stretch._

"What do you want, Kiriyu? You interrupted my nap." _Zero sneered under his mask, which Kaname took no note of. Partly to blame was the fact that he didn't dare turn around and face the seething silver crown._

_"What the Hell did you do to me?" Kaname froze, limbs falling to his sides as his fingertips tingled anxiously._

"Excuse me?"_ Irritated as it was by his own predicament, Zero was insulted to the point of action when he saw the brunette wouldn't even face him. He trudged forward and ripped Kaname around, tearing his mask from his face and getting close to the pureblood with a threatening aura._

_Kaname's knees trembled, eyes drinking in the sight of his obsession's pissed-but still very, very much attractive-face. One of Zero's hands gripped his shoulder callously, molten silver eyes bursting Kaname's skull and trapping him in this parallel reality, this exhausted fantasyland where Zero was here and close and violent as __**fuck-all**__._

_"Why is it so hard for you to come down from your pedestal even just to talk to me?" He grit out, Kaname crumpling slightly. Zero was so close… he bit back a gasp and kept his traitorous mouth shut. Zero stared into him but saw nothing, save the illusion of a proud pureblood that had long since disintegrated beneath that burning gaze. Zero shook his shoulders violently, urging with a brutal desperation that the man respond and do it in a timely manner. But when he stilled, waiting for a response, searching in Kaname's eyes for the smallest hint that the man was angry and even here for the moment, the silence fought him back and he roared madly._

_"ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!" He didn't hear the lock click closed in his fury, throwing Kaname to the floor behind the desk and still just waiting for his vocal solitude to dispense. Kaname simply got on his forearms and arched his aching back, eyes unable to tear away from the furious grey clouding Zero's mind. It was as if tendrils suspended their gazes, hanging between them and not allowing either to look away. It didn't matter to Kaname at this point; his conscious was almost completely gone and he was just counting the moments until the last of 'Zero' tore away and the man from the dream stood before him._

_But Zero huffed above him, hair wild and fists stressing under his tight grasp. He tore the curtains open and the sunlight poured heavily on Kaname, who shielded his eyes in pain. Zero shot for the arms that snuck in front of the brunette's vision, tearing them away as he straddled a fidgeting waist. What was left of Kaname screamed for release from his motionless Hell, his other part bathing in the scents and touches that came with Zero's abandonment. He watched in horror as Zero's murky eyes fell upon his pale throat. The silver crown smiled like a snake, slowly leaning down and savouring Kaname's small attempts at struggling. But the presence wanted this. It wanted so badly for Zero to do anything he wanted. For him to mark Kaname's body like a target on a field. Kaname no longer had enough power over himself to stifle the gasp that came when Zero's lips clamped down on his neck. All he could do at this point was grip the other's sides like a drowning man in the middle of a sea of perfume; dying with the stench of something so ghastly pretty all around him._

_Zero's last bit of restraint faded away. He was not Zero, now. Nor was he the man of Kaname's idealistic dreams; the dominant but sweet man who had both pleasured and held him gently in his arms. This was primal vampiric urge at its evolutionary peak. This was the purveyor of carnage in a blood-soaked world. This was the monster that could devour anything in its way, including a weakened pureblood begging for a masochistic high._

_His fangs pierced Kaname's skin and he held the man's shoulder to the floor, pushing the pretty face aside with a wrenching action. Kaname's breath hitched and he groaned, hugging onto the body and pleading for it to continue-to drain him, if it would please it. Zero drank like a madman, Kaname's grip growing slack and his eyes ghosting over with a glazed look as he slipped a little further into darkness. Zero finally removed himself, blood all over his face and chest as he surveyed his handiwork: not only could Kaname not move his sluggish limbs, he could barely register what was going on around him. Of course the presence would retreat at this time, allowing Kaname's own thoughts the front seat while it watched bemusedly from the back._

_Terror swept through the pureblood as he realised he could barely move his fingers. He could feel arms wrapping around him and a tug lift him from a hard surface. The room floated by him and the sun stung his eyes without pity. Then it all went away, and he felt darkness envelope him. The arms dropped him on the bed and pushed pillows from them. A weight came down and straddled his thighs, pushing up his useless legs as the dull, weak thump of his heart tried as hard as it could to pump adrenaline into the little blood he had._

_Zero grinned and pushed the pureblood further into the sheets, licking up stray drops after forgetting to close the door to the bedroom. He looked down into eyes that held nothing but fear, relishing in the horror of his victim as he played with their bloody hair, loving drawing strands from that pretty, blood-smeared face with false softness. Then, in a mock of a lover's whisper, spoke to the greatly weakened man._

_"I'm sorry I did this to you. Please believe it. Please," Believe it? Kaname's mind struggled with the last viscous drops of blood sustaining it. Yes, he could believe Zero… Zero was safety. Zero was pleasure._

_Zero looked at Kaname, hiding the predatory intent that lurked in his movement as he spread apart the man's shirt and dipped to kiss and lick away the dark liquid on his chest. "Do you believe me?" There was no question now; of course Kaname believed him. Zero was his dream._

"Yes." _He managed miraculously to vocalize._ "Yes, I do." _Zero's eyes lit with childish glee, but narrowed as a showcase of desire for the unmoving man. He nuzzled the dripping wounds on his prey's neck, nipping every now and then with teasing flicks of tongue and teeth. Blood covered much of his face when he moved away, the red plopping onto a pale chest in uneven droplets. Immobile and unwilling to defy the man anyway, Kaname allowed his body to succumb to whatever Zero wanted to do, finding strength in his want to appease the vicious character._

_"Kaname, I want to be with you forever. Don't you want to be with me?" Eyes half-lidded in his prone state, Kaname nodded dreamily, seeing the man he had fantasized about behind the mask of carnal red. Zero smiled and pulled Kaname's arms from his sides, laying them above his head and holding them with a firm fist. With his other hand, Zero touched Kaname's lips, parting them and looking heatedly at the maddeningly sharp fangs hidden behind the flesh._

_"Do you want to make sure we stay together?" He lightly ran the tips of his fingers over each lip, and then stroked the man's cheek lovingly. Kaname nodded again and pushed into his touch. "… Will you do anything to make sure it happens?" Zero stopped, tracing but one fingertip along Kaname's neck and jaw, resting on the chin and bringing it up to fully meet his animated look. "Huh?" He stated airily, waiting for another word. Kaname's breath grew heavier and he prayed for more._

"… I'll do anything at all…"_ Zero's mouth angled until it was at a full, murderous smile._

_"You're a good boy, Kaname." And he kissed the man's forehead, afterward angling his neck directly over those vicious fangs. Kaname penetrated him and he moaned heartily, pushing into the lips of the carnivorous man. The wave that hit Kaname's tongue was unlike anything he had known. Only a faint memory from his childhood stopped him from completely surrendering to the taste. He savoured every drop, expertly keeping each one in his mouth while his arms gained more strength._

_The hand Zero had held him with slid away as Kaname found the strength to sit up, lost in the drunken haze of pleasure that came with Zero's tantalising blood. The silver crown shivered when he drew away, spittle drawing a line from his mouth to that pale column of a neck. Zero smiled at the eyes that were still just barely open, delighted as the drug-like substance invaded Kaname's system and thoroughly shut him down._

* * *

Kaname's eyes flickered with remembrance. He saw the ceiling in his room; a crown of woven silver hovering between them; the Indian moon suspended in a sea of sand and stars; felt the cool, playful wind of a Kashmiri hilltop; sang Riki Tiki Tembo as the waters of the Zhu Jiang lapped at planks; glass and wire shimmered in a beautiful jungle. His hands were small and he stared at blue eyes while a voice lulled him to sleep. He smelled from a limestone rooftop the Sargasso Sea as it hit coral masterpieces with destructive intent. Veils and fezzes and shopkeeps jostled away from the carriage as he sat in his father's lap watching the daily life of Qart'Hadasht. The stink of the gutter hit him and he roamed the streets of Bombay, training from alley to alley and learning just the right way to look at the black eyes of the fisherwomen to get a bite to eat.

His fingers wove in the sheets and he smelled flowers from Everywhere: peony, acacia, pommegranate and orange blossoms, rhodedendrons, spanish jasmine, azaleas and the hint of towering fir trees while he watched the sun rise from the grave Atlantic. Spectacles that weren't his to remember paraded before his eyes and he witnessed a green moon on a red sky, years(nanoseconds) later seeing fireworks of the same colour light the heavens with the birth of a country. He was a port-a filter-of memories, both false and real, as he laboured with the faults of his demented antireality.

What else did he see? Empires fall and rise in tune to the red of the moon and the sky; countries as they gained and lost their independance; lovers as they escaped the frowns of the world in hushed tents and quieter forests. Eyes around him were silver, blue, brown, and red. Always with the tint of red: the contract that bound so many to a black fortune and, in his case, a white uniform. Waves were the gold of the grasslands and the blue of the water, wind gliding over them with armies of sylphs in spider's web clothing and grey skin. The thoughts started singing and he plugged his ears to their shrill, painful tune.

_

* * *

_

_Brother smiled at Kaname over the storybook in his hands, reaching down to stroke the young tufts of hair resting on the infant's skull. Both Kuran parents were away at the Senate, leaving their child in the care of the kind man. Dawn would come soon, but Kaname refused to be put down. He began whining when Brother withdrew his fingers, arms thrashing and voice growing higher. The babe was only a few months old, and needy as any other person his age._

_"Shh, shh, everything's all right, Kaname." Brother said as he caressed the boy's soft skin. When the child did not calm, he drew him up in his arms and held it securely, walking over to the open window and watching the first blue tendrils of light whip at receding stars. Kaname squirmed in his arms, not yet strong enough to lift his head very much, but urging Brother in a language only they and Juuri knew to let him watch the sunrise. Weary of the sunlight harming the child, Brother stepped away and let the curtains fall. Kaname screamed in an agonised tantrum, thrashing more and more in Brother's arms. Then, Brother felt the strangest feeling. It was like his legs were numb. He looked down to see them turning toward the window. Amazed and distressed, he looked at the now quiet Kaname, little face scrunched up in concentration as he willed the world to let him see the light that had never been granted to him._

_Soon, Brother's hands were out of his control, and they lifted the drapery, setting it in the corner to give Kaname a full view of the miraculous sight. Brother was growing very nervous, having less and less confidence in a vampiric baby going up against light as powerful as the sun's._

_"Kaname, you need to go to sleep, now." Brother said as he tried to hush the babe's first exhibit of power. Although he did feel a sting of pride that Kaname had reached such a level without even getting out of diapers. But the little brunette stirred and just looked up at him, using his newfound power instead of his physical strength to lift his own head and stared at the pretty blue-eyed man._

_'I'm not tired.' The meaningful burst of soundless words exploded forcefully in Brother's mind and he felt himself tremble at the magnitude._

_"Ah, Kaname, don't do that. You need to go to sleep." Brother's head pulsed with hammering pain, now without permit to look away from the child in his arms._

_'I want to see the sunrise.' Again, the terrifyingly strong pulsations in his mind, meanings without words controlling his thoughts and his body as he desperately tried to fight it all. The sun began to paint the sky a pinkish orange, and both looked out on it, Brother shaking in horror as he battled the infant on the frontier of his mind. He doubted Kaname understood how painful it was to receive those unrestrained codes. He also doubted the infant _really_ knew why his parents kept such heavy drapes in his lavish room. Babies are delicate; Kaname probably didn't know just how delicate _he_ was._

_"Kaname, you're hurting me." And the invisible straps that held Brother's body loosened considerably, Kaname looking up at his sweating face worriedly. The stress in Brother's eyes at seeing the first rays of yellow frightened the little Kaname, and he obediently closed curtains, having the knot tied extra tight so as not to worry the other male. Fearful that any more interferences would damage Brother, Kaname kept his power over the man just long enough to return the little body to its crib before releasing all of his hold. Brother instantly collapsed, breathing very, very hard and just barely finding the will to turn his body over so he lay on his back._

_Kaname, afraid that if he stayed up any longer Brother would be angry with him, forced the exhaustion of his first show of power upon himself, falling asleep quickly and timely as the door opened with a frantic Haruka standing cross the threshold._

"Aurèle!" _Said the man before shooting down to the floor to pick up the panting male. Brother smiled in the security of Haruka's grasp, hushing him and saying he was alright._

_"Your son is going to kill me one day, mark my words." He laughed quietly as Haruka helped him to stand. "Bigame assassins... runs in the family."_

_"Shut it." Haruka said good-naturedly, proud of his son's display as he towed the cursing man from the room. A little 'poison' should help him relax._

* * *

_When Kaname awoke, he was drowsy. Incredibly drowsy. He could tell it was light outside, but didn't know how long he'd been asleep. When he tried to get up, his limbs failed him and he fell back into the sheets with a grunt. He then blinked a bit, brow narrowing in concentration, trying to figure out his exact surroundings and situation. His shirt was off. And he felt… sticky. His tired hand came up to brush his chest, and it found a rusty crust. Of course, he instantly knew what it was, but whose was it? A thick taste still held his tongue with a light grip, and he licked his lips to see what it was._

_Blood?_

_It didn't taste like blood. No, it tasted like… well, he couldn't quite understand what it tasted like, or if it even had a taste, per se. It was more like a felt it. A warm drug, seeping through his veins and making everything wonderful and shining. But he felt sluggish. Very sluggish. He couldn't quite comprehend the extent of his activities, but he could make a damn good guess. When he turned over to try and get a better look at the room and see if there had been a struggle, he found he couldn't. Then he felt a warmth. A wonderful warmth; something to kill and die for, really. He lifted the sheets and sat up, finding an arm draped across his waist. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight as he slowly uncovered this little mystery, relieved to find the arm held a decent pulse, if not a little slowed by sleep._

_He gently set aside the covers and adjusted his droopy eyes to the sight before him. A mop of silver hair lay inches from his navel, dried and drying blood crusting in the pale mane. He softly drew aside a few strands and felt his pulse stop. Before the face revealed itself to him, the entire body moved, shuffling together and resting on its palms while the taste in Kaname's mouth finally reached his memory._

Zero,

_Horrified as the mercurial eyes looked up at him, Kaname inched backward, hitting the headboard as the scents of their sharing washed over him in a cruel and quick cascade. Zero smirked and laid back down, a hand covering his forehead and wiping away his bangs, eyes still on Kaname with a devilish glint. Kaname shivered, trapped in those eyes as they narrowed, lashes thick and dark on the pale skin._

_"You needn't worry; I didn't do anything." Kaname felt cold now, noticing all tat was left to him were his pyjama pants as he pressed his body as hard as he could into the wood of his bed. Zero got up lazily, stretching on the others' sheets as he slowly climbed over the horrified and awed body. Zero's shirt had been clawed at, as well, and laid in tatters over his body and the mattress. He crawled up to Kaname, knees hooking under the brunette's thighs and forcing him to sit on his lap. He took a clawed finger and caught Kaname's chin, pulling the shocked face close to his._

_"Why won't you speak to me? Are you… scared?" Zero's other hands ghosted over Kaname's hip and the man jumped on his lap, at once noticing the hardness pitched beneath him. It was then that he squirmed, directly disobeying the part in his mind that told him to stop and follow. He grimaced when Zero held his hands between them, pressing them between their bellies as he leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on the brunette's sweating forehead. Kaname flinched, the presence inside of him having long since disposed of his access to his powers. Kaname was helpless. The flowers were killing him and Zero tasted like golden memories and better times. It was an addictive escapism, and with the savoury liquid still holding his tongue, Kaname found himself very, very pinned._

_"Kaname, please speak to me." Zero nudged his neck and he gasped, feeling thin hips grind into his thighs and bottom. Zero held him fast and close, grinding and nipping and licking and Kaname's head rolled back at it all._

"I'm… I can't-what is this?" _He gasped out as Zero kneaded his bottom and circled his belly button when his hands grew slack. Zero made an especially hard nip, lapping up the blood and particularly pleased when he saw the wound didn't close right away. The affect of the drug was slow, taking days to work and possibly months to filter out. Kaname had taken enough to last him for years, but Zero intended for him to have as much as he wanted. And, like he said: it's a drug._

_"Didn't I ask you that same question, Kuran? And you wouldn't even look me in the eye. Do you know how bad that made me feel?" Kaname was shivering and gasping, clutching the remains of his shirt to try and keep calm. For the first time in his life, he was faced with something he had no way of controlling, directly or indirectly. Not only could he not win the battle, he couldn't even fight if he wanted to. And that was the question it all came down to, or so the presence had him believe. He didn't really want to fight Zero, did he? He wanted to succumb to this like a quivering human in a dark alleyway. He wanted Zero to offer him everything and drink from him like another glass in a bar. Of course he wanted this, so why even think about fighting?_

_Zero's taut grip fell away and the kisses ceased. Kaname grit his teeth and opened his eyes to see Zero stare right back at him._

_"… You were always beautiful, you know that? Always like a star shining down on everything." He grimaced, "Pride. That is the destruction of men. Who knew a smart creature like yourself could roll over for something like that," He fingered lightly the string holding Kaname's sleeping pants on his slender frame. Leaning in, he licked the man's ear and whispered gently into it, "but don't worry. I'll take away all the pride you have. You'll thank me for it, Kuran." Zero dragged his claws across his own throat, opening minor veins just long enough for Kaname to take an involuntary inhale, neck so close to the pureblood's mouth. Kaname clamped down on it, something akin to bloodlust dominating his insatiable mind. Zero gasped, feeling the man get sloppier as his resolve and conscious weakened. He continued to stroke the gyrating hips on his lap, wincing when Kaname gulped and his mouth tightened on the intrusion. Pushing gently on the pureblood's chest when he'd though the man had had enough, he watched as Kaname quickly fell asleep, blood still dripping from his mouth and neck, Zero's wounds already fully closed while his lay open and bleeding._

_Wiping the man's mouth like one would to a two year-old, Zero smiled tiredly, a little woozy from the blood loss._

I promise to never, ever tell you of the things I think about while pleasuring myself. If the American stock market doesn't totally bomb and I can't move over to Japan to miss it if it does :D


	8. Chapter 8

Zero approached the Moon Dorm hesitantly, the old keeper at the gate nodding to him casually as he passed through. As much as he'd seen, the wrinkled creep still freaked him out. When he entered the building, he _tch_ed at the exquisite décor, disgusted by the excess of the vampiric aristocracy. The grand staircase looked like a masterpiece, parts covered in gold paint with marble steps. He wouldn't be surprised if the banister was ebony. It was all so overdone and masking; _Reflections of the beasts, themselves_, he thought bitterly. Thankfully, none of the Night Class came to escort him. Although he doubted any of them were ignorant of his scent, or the threat of the silver on both his uniform and the Bloody Rose, he was thankful that they were probably too tired to bother with him.

He hopped up the steps and headed off in the direction of Kaname's apartment and office. It wasn't that hard; just look for the biggest door. When he found it, however, he hesitated again. Something was happening behind the door. A wave of heliotrope hit him and he inhaled deeply, feeling it excite his body and make his hands shoot for the knob. All at once, the door flew open and the room was in view.

Of course, it was better furnished than even _Cross's_ room: Kaname was a prince. However, he was also a prince panting, leaning against a wall.

"Kuran…?" Zero inquired suspiciously, and the man froze in terror. He slowly turned to face the boy , face pale and shimmering with sweat as he struggled to gather himself, finding his limbs weren't quite cooperating.

"Kiriyu… Why can't you knock?" He gulped down another breath. Oh, the _flowers_. It was like diving into a full vat at a perfume factory. It was like-like staying in the gardens too long back at the palace… His dilated eyes shuffled, blinking quickly as his head threw back at the wall. It was like going absolutely mental after too many hits in a row.

"Kuran, are you alright?!" Zero said a little forcefully, stepping forward but surrendering again to that damn hesitation he'd recently adopted.

And, no: Kaname was most certainly **not fine**. God damn his mind. But this aside, he was able to retain a bit of class and diplomacy-that is to say, he was able to somewhat 'negotiate' with the other part of his mind, starting with something like, 'I should look as good as can be in front of a possible mate, right?' And it did _all_ it could to help his body out of its jam. Unfortunately, Kaname felt he'd just signed a contract with the devil.

He gathered himself nicely enough and went to straighten his sleeping shirt, noting instantly that he wasn't wearing one. Figuring he must have stripped somewhat when he was 'high', he managed to be thankful his trousers had remained out of hand's reach, at the time. He walked over to the window and closed it, having the door close gently behind Zero. He had to put his body out beyond cover of the curtains, and winced when the late afternoon sun hit his eyes and skin. When they were shut and locked, he pulled the curtains together as tightly as he could and faced the uncomfortable Zero. Although, after his episode, Kaname didn't blame the poor boy.

"I'm sorry about that; I'm not feeling particularly well, today. Is there something you wanted?" Trying to be as polite and foreign as possible, Kaname hoped to avoid any familiarity with the shifting teenager. Even if it meant treating him better than usual, something the presence didn't really mind. Zero noticed this and, screwing up his brow, spoke.

"There's something happening to me-and obviously you-and I want to know what it is." Kaname paled in the darkness, grateful that Zero couldn't see his somewhat stricken face. He managed a small smile, his widening points of weakness giving the presence generous cracks to crawl through. Knowing at any minute the dam in his head could break, he wished to remove Zero as quickly as possible.

"I'm sorry if you're feeling under the weather, but I'm a little worse for wear. Would you mind coming back later?" Bull. Zero wasn't going to leave with _that_ sort of dismissal pushing him out. He stepped closer to Kaname who, by instinct, drew both legs against his desk as far as he could. Zero blinked in surprise, taking another step. Kaname leaned back a bit and the wood creaked dangerously with the effort of holding his strength.

"Kiriyu, if all you wanted to do was catch my diseases, you could have just asked outright." Zero growled and stepped back, giving Kaname some natural space in which to relax. But, 'diseases,' Kuran? Surely you could've thought of something more convincing. Which were his thoughts as Zero eyed him suspiciously. But with that look, the presence in his mind went wild, obviously seeing something _it_ liked in the ghostly silver eyes.

"I have enough problems at hand. I know you're lying to me, and I want to _why_." So greedy; unreasonably greedy.

"There is nothing happening to me that could deal with the likes of _you_. I should think you'd feel the same way about _me_." Zero's frown deepened, concentration holding his brow angled and dented. He stepped forward again and, of course, Kaname pressed back. Down came another step, and Kaname's arms were looking for something to grab onto so he wouldn't fall back, nearly hopping across the desk as it were.

"… What's wrong with you?" Zero asked, feeling a little insulted, but also smug that he made a _pureblood_ retreat. It wasn't Christmas, yet...

"I've told you: I'm _unwell_." Kaname gritted quietly, not caring for their short distance as it died back even more. Zero edged a foot in between Kaname's ankles and the brunette cringed, barely able to concentrate on his surroundings, the presence was going so mad. But they had made a deal, and Kaname was feeling very, very grateful for its consent. Zero looked into his tinted eyes, seeing through the darkness a shimmer light across them. He looked harder, focusing as much of him as he could into his gaze and finding what was wrong with the _both _of them. His eyes widened; there! That flicker! A part of the desk's ornate edging cracked under Kaname's palms and the pureblood shot his hands up to Zero's chest to push him away. But they stayed.

_Fuck,_

Zero stared down at him nervously, feeling the man's fingers fan out on his chest, tensing and gripping his shirt, pushing ever-so gently. Kaname had ached for this feeling, for the feeling of closeness he had experienced nowhere else. He'd gone insane without the touch, and wanted so much to just lean in and take everything he could…

"BACK OFF, KURAN!!" Zero shouted as Kaname went for his neck, the Bloody Rose pressing into the older man's stomach. Kaname stopped, the shock of the anti-vampire weapon paining him. His head angled down and he smiled, _What a punchline._ He felt Seiren question his position and reassured her, keeping quiet the screaming in his head. Zero's hand did not shake as he pressed as hard into Kaname's gut as possible, waiting for the man to relent as a natural fear absorbed him. Kaname's hands fell and he brushed the hair from his face, irritated when he found sweat coated the skin.

"I apologise for that, but I warned you I'm not quite myself right now." More like, 'not like my **old** self.' Because abnormalities in his personality were becoming less and less surprising. Even if this moment was one he'd like very much to forget. "Blood," He suddenly spoke up, attracting Zero's quick attention. "It's been a while. Are you… alright?" A question that could be pointed at either of them. Still, Zero grimaced and looked away. Kaname smiled tiredly,

"Mine shouldn't be infectious: if you need it, go ahead." Zero watched him angrily. 'That' part wanted it badly, but Zero relished what general control he had, and made no move to accept the offer. Exhausted, Kaname didn't want to have to fight with him over it, and had the doors to his bedroom open.

"If you're too embarrassed to accept in the main room, almost nobody goes in here." And with that, Kaname walked into his bedroom, leaving the doors quite open until Zero stepped through. But how the Hell was a_ bedroom_ going to be better, in this situation? In any case, the lock clicked for comfort.

Kaname sat down on the bed and pushed away his growing hair. He needed to get it cut, soon. He rather disliked having to wear it up to keep it away from his work. He didn't quite understand why he'd kept it long as he had, save the fact he remembered something from his father and a small group of old friends agreeing it looked better. He wasn't even a woman: didn't know why he bothered...

"Unlike you, Kiriyu, I have all day. But if you're still here when the sun goes down, I won't be the only one you have to deal with."

"I know that!" Zero barked and Kaname shivered. It almost sounded like a _command_, and he was glad that the dark held his gooseflesh secret. The ex human approached him and he tensed, feeling Zero's hands snake around to hold his shoulders. The man bent forward so his lips were about an inch from Kaname's throat, the murderous look in his eyes coming not only from the bloodlust. Again, the closeness that struck Kaname motionless. He couldn't move but for his trembling limbs. His ears echoed with a silent ringing, hearing only Zero and his movements when they occurred. His accelerated pulse that could in no way match Kaname's.

"If you're going to do it, do it." Zero growled once more at Kaname's anxiety, taking it as condescending impatience. His lips touched down on Kaname's neck and the pureblood's eyes shot open, a rush filling him and his grip on the bedsheets tightened and shook. His mouth opened in a soundless gasp that Zero didn't catch, and the silver crown bit down harshly, fangs penetrating the soft skin suddenly. Everything on Kaname's face shut as tight as it could while he tried to hold back the moan of the century. The fact that he was _giving_ himself to Zero like this was making him crazy, and the presence urged him explicitly to give even more.

So, a hand softly held Zero's back as the teen drank deeply. And, coming from Zero's side, the taste was like nothing he'd experienced before. It was like sucking nectar from a gorgeous bloom, and he found himself wanting as much as he could get, disgust aside. His hands clenched Kaname's shoulders even more callously, and he pressed into the openings he had made with renewed vigour, closing whatever distance had been between them as he eagerly lapped up all he could get. Kaname felt him press, leaning back at the silent order, eventually falling onto the bed as Zero crawled on top of him. Every now and then, the boy would miss a drop and lick it from his 'prey's neck. Kaname shuddered uncontrollably each time he did this, and waited anxiously for the next.

Zero's chest curved perfectly over his arch, and Kaname felt like he fit into it. His other hand met Zero's back and gripped it painfully hard. One of the boy's legs was between Kaname's knees, and as he became more and more enthusiastic about his meal, Zero slowly dragged the knee up while the other was still planted on the floor. Eventually, it met up with Kaname's 'junction', so to say.

"Ah," Kaname bucked at the sensation, trying to keep his body as stationary as possible until Zero left. Then he could… 'tend to his wounds'. Quite drawn in to what he was doing, Zero took no notice of his own boldness, and brought the other leg on the bed, unwittingly having it rest between Kaname's spread legs as well.

It came to the point where Zero was so frantic about retrieving blood, he ended up licking Kaname whenever he could, hoping to find a missed drop and devour it all the same. With this, he leaned in even further, knees digging into the mattress and slowly pulling Kaname's legs over him, eventually ending with the man's thighs clutching his sides while a conspicuous erection poked achingly into a shirted stomach.

"Ah-Ze…" Kaname shut his mouth, holding in his quivering voice as Zero hiked up his legs even further, enjoying it all very much as the silver crown gripped his thighs tightly and drew him in as hard as he could, pressing painfully into the cuts on his neck. Then, the sucking motions stopped, and Zero lapped fervently at the wound as it closed more sluggishly than usual, full but not sated as his eyes brought a new meaning to 'bloodshot'.

The pureblood panted beneath him, still quivering with the effort of holding back his voice, neck oozing slower and slower until Zero drew back and licked his lips hungrily. He felt on top of the world, hovering over the man with a full belly and dangerous eyes. Kaname stared blindly back at him, barely able to feel the sheets at his back. Zero looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, still rubbing against the brunette in a harsh rhythm. The puncture marks hadn't closed: proceeding to stain the sheets into oblivion. Zero's hand drifted down to the brunette's crotch and he winced, unable to remove his eyes from the silver crown. His throat grew chalky and dry, and an urge akin to Zero's slowly started to poison his mind. Conditioned to immediately dispel the curselike ritual, Kaname struggled to get up.

"Zero… I need to get blood tablets…" Weak. Even when Zero stalled, smiling superficially at him and laying off, Kaname still couldn't get himself up. He felt arms cradle his shoulders, hoisting him up as he registered a face coming closer to his. Zero bit his lip purposefully and Kaname inhaled automatically, sighing deeply with heavy lids as those eyes watched the trickle of blood grow thicker until it reached Zero's chin. It dripped off and Kaname clamped down on smirking lips. He wasn't completely helpless, but his mind was. Or rather, whatever left to him that wasn't that presence was totally screwed. The Great Kuran Prince was trembling with weakness, lapping at martyred drops of blood from an ex human's mouth. Graceless, fingers tightening in cotton and wool, Kaname climbed surely up Zero's body until the blood flow ceased, and he moved to the man's neck. Zero stopped him abruptly, and three natures clashed inside Kaname's head: Instinctive, Tactful, and Sexual presences. The second screamed in a corner while the other two battled a fierce war, both looking to sate their appetites, both wanting the ex human smiling suggestively across from them.

"Ah, ah, ah," And the third presence one the first round, bringing Kaname into a dilated blackness that awaited instruction from the other male. Zero grinned broadly and pressed the smaller, warm body against the sheets once more. Biting his lip again, he fingered the blood in all meaning of the word _sinful_. Getting a good amount and smearing it around for a second or so, the finger moved through the air to touch down on Kaname's left breast lingeringly, but unconciously. Words dripped from his lips like honey to no effect but a tortured moan from his charge. Encouraged, he finished his phrase and brought the same mixture to Kaname's forehead, pressing his thumb firmly just below the man's widow's peak, and his smile grew feral. Removing his hands from the man, he scratched his neck harshly and leaned down so Kaname could instantly latch onto the laceration and take all he could.

_A spell...? Is that why I'm like this?_ Disappointing, to say the least.

"You should have stayed in bed, Kuran." Drawled a strained voice. Kaname barely listened, but anything to do with the silver-haired male instinctually peaked his interest, and he fed on both blood and words. "Did you honestly think I would make this about you?" Kaname flinched in response to the cruel words, and took his teeth from the already healing throat. He stared with tight lips and threatened eyes, the dark fluid making him shimmer in the little light that managed to sneak in. Zero looked down on him with cruelty and distaste, but a possessive grace that made it all wrap up in the fact that _he __**wanted**__ Kaname_. And, at this point, Kaname would take charity like that.

Zero's hands clenched a pyjamaed rump and it twitched a little in protest, but relaxed and warmed to the touch as the younger man kept his ministrations light.

"Do you want me to help you more?" Sounded the voice that shouldn't have belonged to a boy so young . That was the voice of a man much older, and much more sly than the hot-blooded teen. But Kaname nodded his head slowly and submissively, and if that area hadn't already been brought to life, it was positively _thrumming_ with the energy, now.

Zero continued to caress him through the thick fabric of his trousers, one hand sneaking to the tie hanging limply around his own neck and tearing the nuisance away. Even if bondage was a bit of a turn-on, never make them scream on the first date. However, Kaname's mind was shattering. His eyes were blank but for primal urge, and his stomach felt warm But his throat-still saturated in Zero's gift-felt cold and constricted. So many appetites and demands coming from so many parts of him each second, tearing at him and making his body shudder with the effort of keeping them down and hoping through his blatant excitement that Zero wouldn't notice too much. The noise in his head was deafening and the din brought on a headache that pounded ceaselessly in his skull. He was exhausted and sweating and pained, and they hadn't even _gotten_ to the sex, yet.

But, the flowers,

And, Zero was kissing his neck,

And… and it felt wonderful to have distractions like that, even if they weren't painkillers.

Zero worked on the string holding Kaname's sleeping pants around his trim hips, fumbling enough to get it loose and push down the weighty winter fabric. He instantaneously caressed the man's bare thighs, unexpectedly shivering as he finally felt that cool skin warm so obediently and quickly with his touch. He felt very much like he had a god beneath his thumb, feeling powerful and possessive and so, so wanted. Zero felt _wanted_. Not the part of him that relished the taste of Kaname's blood: not the part that wanted to see him suffer, or even the part that loved Yuki. The part that flinched on the ground in blood and snow while its twin smirked smugly down at it. After that… there really hadn't been anyone** but** Yuki that could stand him. Yuki was wonderful. But then, the argument: Yuki wasn't twitching and begging loudly for his touch without even speaking. Yuki wasn't trembling and looking at him through watery brown eyes with a desire for-not more than he could give-but exactly what he was. However, Yuki _was_ incredible and cheery and strong. She made him feel **useful**. But Kaname, or whatever virus that had overtaken him at the moment, _obviously_ **needed** him. Desperately. And, it was at this moment that Zero, in all of his monstrous pride, at last travelled up, up, up Kaname's chest until he reached the man's lips, and kissed them slowly and sensually as he could remember from the movies. And while his hands were still, and probably always would be, under the spell of his hatred and his yearning, he knew that these two people would allow his imperfections, ghastly and degenerate as imperfections get. The two were similar, even if they didn't act it, when it came to him. Concerned. And for this he was indebted to them.

The kiss, needless to say, shocked all parts of Kaname. But Zero smiled warmly and licked the brunette's lips, kissing him again at a gentle, chaste pace. Kaname responded well enough, hands threading in silver hair and urging this touch to increase, but Zero drew away even with that, hand creeping down to Kaname's waistline while he looked with curiosity and a protective possession in his eyes. Kaname gasped and his head and hands hit the pillows as Zero finally touched _that _part of him. The younger man's fingers acted a little confused-unused to doing this for another, unwittingly teasing and poking and playing and Kaname writhed like a whore, half-praying the torture wouldn't end because he knew if it did, Zero would stand, straighten his clothes with a red face, leave, and hate him all the more. So Kaname… enjoyed this torture. But it still didn't justify bondage on the first date. No matter how incredibly sexy and anonymous that had _the potential_ to be.

The touches grew firmer and more confident as Zero got the hang of it, gripping the flesh and wholeheartedly beginning his slightly still unconfident rhythm. Kaname would have gone insane: the feeling was incredible, but there was only that feeling. Zero wasn't touching him anywhere else. He wasn't in any mental position to physically oppose the man, but it irked his Instinct. _Not only_ was the man not touching him properly, but Kaname was laying back as that single hand held and pleasured that single part of him. The rest of him really didn't care at the moment. At last relaxing into the motions and understanding the passion, Kaname's more reasonable side felt the waves rushing through him. Torrents of these new feelings-things he'd either not bothered with or successfully dealt with in years making sense and making it feel _**fucking good**_. He bit his lip as Zero jerked a little harder, the raw sensation of doing this dry sending tendrils of pain to lick at his penis. It hurt but, well, was he in any pose to complain?

"… I dreamed about this," He mistakenly said, masking it slightly with a languid, sexual tone. Zero watched him with a heated body and interested eyes: mind still admiring, hand still stroking, teasing, stroking harder and harder until it became easier and easier for him to just lose focus and _look_. And, really: what a sight to look at. Pride of the vampiric world shuddering in degrading pleasure by his wish? Fantastic. He'd take it any day. Kaname moaned and stole the universe,

"You were so passionate; I'd dream about you every time I fell asleep," For that, he got an extra tug as a treat. He cringed and gasped, fisting the destroyed bed painfully tight as the fabric ripped on the other end. Zero smiled with parted lips and a little puff that strangled a strange sense of vain satisfaction from the brunette. Not only was Zero pleasuring him-immensely so, he would like to add-but he was _aroused_ in doing it. Kaname could arouse him without doing anything himself. He could smile at this. Zero pushed the tip of his erection, smearing pre ejaculate over his fingers and the man's quivering foreskin.

"Zero," He rasped heavily, body tightening at the first light laps of his orgasm. But Zero did it just as gently as he pleased, even going to far as to blow a little cool air on the sensitive tip, tickling it with feathery touches and a shallow rhythm that released a curse from Kaname's lips as he splattered Zero's black jacket with white blotchy stars. Shocked-even if he knew it was coming-Zero blinked slightly as a final, distressed sound wrenched itself from Kaname's heavy lips and reached his ears. Toward the end of his climax, Kaname was very tense and jerked on the bed like a fish out of water. He panted in shallow breaths, running a hand from his eyes to the threads of his hair as the last of the convulsive climax left him, and he pooled in the sheets like the blood and sweat already drying and ruining them. Poor things.

Heated eyes watched Zero with curious interest, wondering what his next move would be. Kaname didn't dare interfere with the silver crown's plans: not after that amazing act. But he worried, still. Deep in his stomach, the stone that had settled on that cool night shrivelled him again. It chilled him, and sweat stuck to his gooseflesh distastefully. Kaname was scared. Zero was staring though him, eyes not quite wide, but open enough to make him look a little… off. The stone was so cold. It hurt, and the blood in his veins ran infused with adrenaline, following suit with his stomach and making the entire scene glacial compared to what had just occurred.

The sweat and crimson on Kaname's forehead had already dried by the time Zero acted again. He jolted a little as he came out of his daze, and looked expressionlessly at Kaname's frightened eyes. Zero's robotic movements weren't entirely encouraging, and the stone turned inside of him, making him feel nauseous as the coldness saturated his terrified body. He shook: Zero wasn't responding. Was he… angry? Was Zero angry? Did Kaname do something wrong? So caught up in his thoughts, but so superaware of the man, the hand that touched Kaname's face had him flinch spectacularly, and he shut his eyes, trousers round his ankles, an utter mess below his obsession. The touch was gentle but discerning, and the stone was joined for the moment by small pebbles that jittered and shook him with a hazy, electric feeling. Zero's kind smile and his warmth did not stop them, and instead they fluttered more. It hurt. The pebbles were hurting him so badly. Then Zero kissed him, drew away, took off his jacket, and removed his body from the bed.

The silver crown found his tie on the floor, and looped it appropriately, that same dreamy distraction crossing his face and glazing his eyes with something unreadable and unnerving. He buttoned up his shirt and looked at Kaname, the pureblood, tangled in the sheets and lost in horror, shock, and pain. Why did it hurt? His hand shook incessantly as it moved toward his stomach, grasping it and trying to feel the stone and the pebbles. But Zero looked at him worriedly and hijacked his world. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but didn't. Kaname's large eyes showed his pain: his anxiety and insecurities; the mess he was making of himself and the blame he hit Zero for it. Zero smiled cordially and walked back over to the bed and the silent man. He pulled up the pyjama trousers and tied them neatly, looking Kaname straight in the eyes for two seconds before leaving him a final time that night and crossing the room to the window. Opening it, he barely hesitated, and threw himself out into the fading daylight.

In three hours Kaname had to be in class. He wasn't mentally prepared for this.

* * *

:D Come on: who doesn't like to see a powerful man like Kaname writhe in despair and vulnerability? :D Eez sexy, right? :D Right...?


	9. Chapter 9

Zero's feet hit the cobblestone and the forest faced him. Along with a pair of dangerously pissed blue eyes. That Aidou would come out during day hours-even if dusk was coming in minutes-meant something must have _really_ disturbed him. And Kaname (the reins, essentially) was incapacitated. But he did have the Bloody Rose. He did have the choice…

Aidou caught sight of the other's fingers moving toward the gun holster and froze them. Not just glazed them with ice, but made sure every vein was clogged so Zero would know pain _intimately_.

"Aidou!" The silver crown hissed at the feeling, other hand shooting for the gun. The sluggish cold crawled through his rescue hand, finding multiple veins to sneak through to reach his feet. Aidou wouldn't mess with his heart, yet, but he was trapped until the blonde made that decision. Not good to be under _his_ thumb.

The boy smiled at Zero's pain, having ice freeze his blood in just the right places. It was incredibly fun for him to know that the boy was in so much pain. For that effect, he kept all ice from Zero's scrunched, seething face. But he couldn't very well harm him and not tell him _why_, right? That would be too cruel. So he smiled in a mockery of softness, walking up to his enemy with hard eyes and curved lips. He stroked Zero's cheek, scraping it just enough with his nails so Zero would know it as a warning, and that he was not afraid to spill blood on these grounds.

"This is your second offence, Disciplinary Committee. What are we going to do with you?" He could smell all sorts of things on Zero: the stinking salt of sweat; _His_ blood, of all people; saliva from… marks; the ejaculate that Aidou knew marked the black jacket in his hands. The blonde was disgusted and betrayed and he had the very person he wanted to take it all out on right in front of him. Helpless.

"Aidou, let me go." Aidou smiled dazzlingly, eyes flickering cold as Pluto,

"And why should I do that? This sort of disrespect will not be tolerated." Disrespect to him, or Kaname? Forefront, Kaname, of course, but Aidou was pushed to the point of committing treason. This was absolutely inexcusable.

"Hanabusa," His fingers didn't stop and neither did his manipulation of Zero. Kain was standing beside him, watching Zero's suffering. The tallest male thought for a moment, and spun his cousin around, fire working its way to melt the ice while Aidou wasn't looking.

"**WHAT**?!" Screamed the smaller male. Ice prickled Kain's body as well and he could see his breath. Aidou's eyes were alight with the exhilaration of his revenge and the anger at Kaname's betrayal. Kain finished his help with Zero and held Aidou in place, arms weaving around his sides while the victimized prefect ran for it. "**NO**!!" Kain focused on melting anything that tried to stop Zero, having little concern for the fact that Aidou was trying to hurt _him_, too.

"**YOU GODDAMNED FUCKING CUNT**!! **LET ME GO**!!" Aidou whacked him constantly, and Kain finally melted the ice on his neck, punching Aidou so hard the boy flew to the ground. He tackled and straddled him before he could get up to hold the fighting body down.

"Hanabusa, calm down."

"**FUCK YOU**!! **LET ME GO, GODDAMNIT**!!" Aidou pounded at him, breaking bones that healed hastily. Finally irritated with the boy's childlike temper, Kai n pulled the hands off of him and held them by their wrists above Aidou's head. He stared into sharp blue eyes, waiting for the tantrum to stop before everybody came out to watch them bicker and fight. He watched a tear of effort roll down Aidou's cheek, freezing almost on contact with his cool skin. Thinking it couldn't hurt, Kain leaned down and kicking legs thrashed with renewed vigour as he kissed and effectively melted the halted drop. "… **Fuck you**." Aidou said through gritting teeth. Kain sighed, more than put off by his cousin's bad behaviour.

"How many times am I going to have to tell you? Kaname's business is _his_ business-you have no place getting in the way of his plans,"

"**BULLSHIT**!!" The screaming again. Kain swore he felt an eardrum pop and heal over. Aidou glared at him fiercely, Kain keeping tears in check as they rolled freely down the blonde's face, now. Aidou writhed and struggled to escape, arms jerking at his trapped wrists to no effect but Kain's shortening temper. The man had a lot of patience, but this was ridiculous. "Did you **smell** him? Kaname could break him in two, tear him apart, smash his skull in-**HE FUCKING SHOULD**, **BUT HE'S TOO CAUGHT UP IN HIS GODDAMNED FANTASYLAND TO DO ANYTHING**!!" Kain winced again at the din, wanting to laugh when the boy's young voice cracked with the effort.

"Where did your faith in him go?" Kain wondered aloud, continuously kissing frozen tracks from his cousin's face. Aidou's teeth were grinding mechanically and he cursed the other male whenever he could.

"… Let me go."

"Akatsuki, let him go." Kaname said from the walkway, clutching his bathrobe as he tied the sash. Kain stood up automatically and Aidou's face was red as he wiped away his tears. Kaname looked at him sternly, but the blonde couldn't face him normally, at this point. Kain rubbed the back of his head, glad the last of the ice had chosen instead to steam off.

"Aidou, my personal life is none of your concern,"

"Bull. Especially when you let that _thing_ take you over like that." Aidou glared at him furiously, but out of habit restricted himself from turning fully against the elegant man. Kaname made no physical response to his outburst, but a cool voice rang out in Aidou's head before Kaname politely ordered Kain back to the Dorm.

_My office. Now._

-

"Yori," Yuki said as the girl adjusted her collar. Yori looked up with a smile,

"Jah, Yuki?" Golden hair shone in the morning light, meticulous uniform adjusted perfectly as usual: Yori was the perfect roommate. Yuki stretched and groaned,

"Nothing-do you know what's for breakfast?" The blonde beamed and Yuki clenched the bedsheets in anticipation,

"Ginger stir-fry set!" Yuki grinned broadly and stood up from her place on the bed,

"Shall we go?"

-

A hand slammed down on the desk so hard a spidery crack appeared,

"You know **exactly** why I'm pissed: fucking around with an **ex human** of all th-" Kaname's hand clamped down around his throat, choking him while the brunette glared daggers.

"As I've said: my personal business is not of your concern."

"**Bull**." He threw Aidou against the wall and it cracked, too. The blonde grunted and didn't bother standing up as his Lord walked over to look down on him.

"You have no justification in entering my private life." To be honest, Kaname was quite woozy. Of course he wouldn't show in front of Aidou-especially at this moment-but he was struggling quite violently with just his vision as the room seemed to tumble around him. He was thankful he could walk alright, feet hidden well by his long, thick winter brocade robe. Not only that but, obviously, Zero's scent was everywhere. On him, on his clothes, and it was slathered all over his bedroom. He'd closed the doors and windows to keep it as much of a secret as he could. And perhaps to preserve it.

Aidou glared hard as he could, a thin, bitter smile on his face, "How out of it are you, really? His scent's everywhere. You must be going crazy." Kaname picked him up and made to toss the blonde's body through the wall on the other side of the room, but he lost his usually impeccable footing and they crumpled to the floor. Terrible timing, really…

The smaller man laughed poisonously, venom pumping his heart at this point. "You seriously going to try and defend this?" Already on top of the brunette, Aidou tried the same trick he'd done with Zero, having ice creep slowly through Kaname's veins. He had lost sight of boundaries, now.

"Hanabusa, get off of me." Kaname's order did not make Aidou any less right. He _was_ under the ex human's spell, and he _wasn't_ in the best condition to fight off anyone. Let alone someone crazed as Aidou. And he couldn't let Seiren know of this, yet. She was trustworthy, but Aidou had been good at keeping secrets, too. That and the panic were making everything quite intimidating, right now. The blonde's eyes were narrow, and Kaname could almost _smell_ how betrayed he felt. And, while it made him feel a little odd, it wasn't Aidou's business who he slept and drank with. But he… he knew about it. Kaname felt mortal fear crawl past the ice plugging his veins.

"Are you trying to **order** me when you're like this?" He laughed mockingly, "I could do anything I want, right now. _I_ could take control, when you can't. I could protect you from him..." His eyes jumped all over Kaname's face and neck, searching for something that would stop him. Something that should stop him. Aidou knew he was going way beyond his place, but this was more than the disrespect Zero usually handed to them. This was… worse than treason; a weakness on Kaname's nearly spotless record. He didn't have a **choice** but to take control, really. He had promised the man he would help him, and a guardian knows what's best for their ward, after all.

"I could do anything at all, and you wouldn't stop me…" he leaned down, face closing in on Kaname's collar bone with that same determined, searching stare. The pureblood squirmed in panic, his powers only gently licking at the other man in small flickers, and nothing he couldn't heal from or even flinch about, in any case.

"Hanabusa-" The blonde's lips descended on him and he flinched, terror blanking his mind as the presence blasted away everything else in him. It was almost like someone shoving you aside and calling you 'weak'.

In any case, in three seconds' time, Aidou was out the window and Kaname was standing quite confidently, staring at a body on the pavement from his second-story viewpoint. Still confused, Aidou cringed as he felt his back heal from the fall. Beginning to stand up, Aidou stopped when he heard Kaname's voice penetrate his mind again,

_Don't try me, Aidou. You'll receive due punishment, later._

Which was bad. Very bad.

So Aidou left. And, with all of the effort exerted that night, Kaname collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion. He could barely lift his head, his body was so leaden. Not just that, but quite sore from the ice recently broken and thawed inside of him. He felt sluggish and, naturally, an aversion to really moving at all. He didn't need a bed to lay on: it wasn't like he'd have a bad back in the morning. Or at least not for very long. And he didn't have an immune system so weak as to catch a cold simply from sleeping on the floor.

But this was beyond fretting him. He hurt so badly, and the scent was so close,

On him? Yes it was. Zero had been, too. But the room: it had all happened _there_. He was sure it wouldn't lose the musk of their actions for months. It was so strong and… and comforting. It was very comforting to feel the silver crown so close. It was comforting to even have just the illusion of closeness. So very comforting. The idea of this forced his protesting arms to pull him shakily to his knees. From there, he just had to push off and hit the desk so he could pull up fully. Tripping a little, he made it, clinging to the wood like a drowning man. He grunted and pushed his body to its feet, standing with trembling legs with a desk as a crutch. He then lurched for the decorative moulding on the wall, pulling along it steadily as he could until he reached the door to the bedroom.

Peeved with his constant fumbling, he finally forced the door open and held up by the knob, gently closing it and immediately disheartened by the distance from the handle to his bed. He couldn't make it with just a lunge. But he tried anyway, landing with a combination of '_oof_' and '_Fuck!_' on the floor. Pulling himself up by way of the sheets with the last of his strength, he let out a

"_Shite_!" when they at last ripped from the mess they'd been in, and tumbled spectacularly to the floor. He couldn't even make it to the bed, damn him. But the scents were here; the sheets they'd laid upon stained with the aftermath of their passions. They pooled around him, and he inhaled deeply, pretty much on automatic as his hands desperately grasped the fabric in their places around his head.

_Zero… Zero, please…_

And Zero was there, the illusion of amethyst eyes and ghostly hands engulfing the brunette's senses entirely as he let it cradle him, not in any position to even _recognise_ his wounds, let alone the bell as it summoned the Night Class to the school. Two days in a row: he'd better have a damned good excuse for it.

-

Zero's roommate barely noticed him when he came back, grunting in acknowledgement as he continued with his homework. Thankful for that fact, the silver-eyed boy stripped his bloodstained shirt and threw most of his ensemble in the laundry bin, stepping into the bathroom for a shower. He didn't have many emotions for what had just happened, a little dazed and a little off and as far away from reality as he could be.

That had… happened?

He scratched his head as he finished buttoning his new shirt.

It hadn't happened.

See? He didn't even have marked clothing on. Of course it hadn't happened. Erasing it was as easy as grabbing a sponge... But he really did need to get out to Yuki, at the moment. His roommate grunted again as he slammed the door and walked to his duty, hands shoved deep into his pockets and his usual put-off aura flaring just like it always had. Which was incredibly useful he had once realised, because it kept away a lot of people he didn't particularly want to talk to. Except Yuki and personal matters. Anything involving him was almost automatically her business, he had learned, and the 'big sister' ruse wasn't really a ruse at all. Yuki protected him from himself, and in the process almost completely eliminated his pesky dignity. She had gotten fairly good at it over the years.

"Zero, what's wrong?" Asked the object of his thoughts. Uninterested in telling her anything, Zero expressed his disinclination by grumbling about bloodsuckers and taking his station at the gate. Curious and irked, the girl followed him and stood at her own post. "If something's wrong, you can't avoid me, you know." So something was bothering her, too. How he longed for the day she'd left him alone. Too bad that day might not have existed, either… Time was a tricky thing when it felt playful. "Zero," She pressed, the day catching up with both of them while Zero was careful not to spill blood by the fingernails pressing into his hands. The gates opened and the 'elite' came out, zealous fans squealing with their appearance.

But it was odd, because the girls were quieter than usual: not shouting, but more in awe of the air the Night Class drew with them. Of course, everybody in white glared at Zero, pardoning the more level-headed Ichijo and Kain. Shiki seemed pretty disinterested, but Aidou could have killed him. Along with Ruka. The ungodly girl could have turned him to stone, if he'd cared about her opinion of him. And of course Aidou was pissed-getting caught could do that to people. Not that Zero was at all ready to acknowledge these creatures as _his_ class, which was pretty much the response when they considered _their_ class. Different systems; different standards. Zero just wanted to get to his homework and go to sleep.

Still: that ever-present irritation in his nose. The twinge that kicked him continuously and jolted him to snippets of something he wished was a nightmare. But then there was something else; something almost completely indifferent to the ordeal that told him, quite clearly, _"What does it matter? __You're__ not going crazy like that, so why panic?"_ in a sort of a go-with-the-flow-I-don't-really-want-to-bother-with-it sort of tone. Zero was not very adept at listening to that part of his mind so, instead, he got angry. Just like before, and whenever anything else fucked with his life. He seethed and kicked at inanimate objects and created a path for himself in crowds just by having that same, fierce presence. It worked damn well, but it was a Hell of a strain.

He immediately noticed, in all of nature's perverse glory, that Kaname was not present. Which got to him quickly enough, but he knew he'd have to be a magician to make it into the Moon Dorm to confront the pansy with all of the extra guard set on high alert. And he didn't feel insulted: _they_-the powerful immortal bastards-had to protect their leader from _him_-a 'low' and 'weak' Level D. His pride puffed up considerably over the hours, and it just barely seeped through his usually stagnant, angry miasma. Control over a situation this large was something foreign to him, but he relished their discomfiture with an incredibly hushed, smug thought: _"They're afraid of __**me**_." Which was insanely gratifying. It gave him even more power; more confidence and the ability to look them in the eye and match the smugness that had left their once-haughty scowls. He'd taken that from them, the security they'd thought kept them above him. He'd taken from them the basis of their pride, and their faith in their race. Doing so much with just a single move made his head spin: who knew it could be so easy to rip the rug from under them? It made him hate them even more, now that he could act upon that hate. He wanted to make them all suffer as much as possible. He wanted to torture Kaname until the man wouldn't _stand_ without an order. He wanted to **hurt **him.

… The gardens were so beautiful, though. He floated on and off through them, images of Yuki and the sunflowers, of Ichiru and the heliotrope, of Kaname trembling under him, begging him to not stop and saying all those things he thought nobody would tell him again…

Oh, there were things in his mind he didn't want to deal with. There were memories he felt were best left untouched. And there were things that a part of him begged to touch. Pieces of his personality working against him all through his duty and after, things that couldn't bear to leave him alone for just that one last scowl as white uniforms disappeared behind bricks and fences. And they were gone, and Zero's duty was half-over.

He closed the gate and the girls dispersed quickly, glaring at him beneath their hair and perfumes. The scents were artificial and smelled disgusting when compared to the real thing. They made him choke, but he wouldn't show that he was dying for the clean air they had stolen away. The false flowers did nothing to hide what was behind them: the real perfume that stole his conscience and put his heart on overdrive. The disgusting reminder of a presence that made him lose himself. He tried desperately these days to fence those feelings and that person. There were fences that bordered the memories he didn't know and faces he didn't want to see. Things strange and hypnotic and horridly, disgustingly, embarrassingly attractive. The memories were rotting the borders away, crawling closer and closer to him each time he tried to repair his crumbling sanity. He had to wonder when he would finally give in, but didn't want to jinx the possibility that he'd have enough control to stop that ending. He vaguely registered Yuki as she caught up to him. She wouldn't leave it to him: we've already covered that her day had stolen both her mercy and most of her patience (things like these do come in limited amounts)

"You can't avoid me forever," Yes, she kept coming back like a nicotine addiction: he didn't want it; he didn't need it; it just kept following him wherever he went. Another nag in the back of his head… She frowned at his spiteful distraction, "You don't have to tell me the whole truth, but I do expect an explanation." She was getting better at this persuasion thing, offering him choices and security instead of demanding everything, point-blank. It still wasn't working on him, though. He wanted to laugh at the frustration knotting her brow as she began to glare at him, "Look, I don't care if it's because of the Night Class or your 'problems', or even relationships…" Shit. He thought he'd hidden it well enough, but he probably reacted to all three of them: she saw it in his body language, the damned cold-reader. Smiling brightly, she finally got to the _real_ harassment. Hopefully she wouldn't connect Point A to B.

"Did you have a fight with her or something? Did you say some things you shouldn't have? God forbid, **DO** something you shouldn't have…" But her eyes sparked again as she hit the nail on the head. His head did hurt quite a bit, to mention his various piling pains. And he didn't want to talk about this. Least of all with her. But, have you ever tried avoiding Yuki? She was the Inquisition in a skirt. But she was also incredibly compassionate, and it was easy to play on her humanity…

"I don't want to talk about this." A downward tug of the lips, a timely head-bent, and a terse, short tone. Maybe it would get her off his tail, maybe she would just keep asking. He wasn't ready to bet on either, really. But she relented a bit and chose to walk beside him as they did their nightly patrol. Circling the Day Dorm, then approaching the Moon Dorm… Zero stopped and his fingers twitched anxiously. He needed to get the Hell out of here. Yuki stared up at the dark windows of the Moon Dorm, noticing two or three dimly lit panes against the black and blue backdrop.

And he'd left the windows open, too.

At least the man was asleep. Zero wasn't about to ask why, but the scent changed when Kaname slept. It grew heavier; seeming less like a perfume and more… aphrodisiacal. It didn't matter either way: Kaname always disturbed him when he was near, why should the question of Unconsciousness v. Consciousness enter the picture? It was troublesome from the start, without any of this complicating crap. He tried very hard to distract himself from this scent, remembering nothing from his past few days but school and an uncannily arousing cologne.

Then she stopped,

"Zero… it's not a girl from the Night Class. Right?" _Shit_. He glared at her, but she read him with wide eyes as he stomped away. She must have seen him looking up at the Dorm… She ran up in front of him and, with disbelief crossing her features, tried her mastery as an Inquisitor.

"It's not Ruka… right?"

"No." He grit out, walking past her with tense shoulders and a worse attitude. All this added stress almost made him want to give in to the relaxed, lazy coaxes the scent was sending his way. He found he couldn't leave that thought alone.

"It couldn't be Rima…" He rounded on her,

"Would you stop prying into my business?! Who I _like_," He spat distastefully, "has nothing to do with you! **Stop**.** Asking**!" Yuki seemed small for a moment, then her temper grew and she defended herself,

"It has everything to do with me! You think you can just avoid the people who love you?! Are Cross and I so insignificant that you would exclude us from such a large part of your life?! Do you hate us so much?!" She'd be crying if she wasn't so goddamn angry, they both knew it. But he couldn't leave her like that; making Yuki sad or frightened was not Zero's objective. He just wanted to be a friend without handing her everything about him on a silver plate. Didn't she know enough, already?

"You are **very** important to me-" couldn't say the same for Cross, "why the Hell would you think anything else?! Just because I don't feel like telling you _everything_?! I'm not a goddamned dictionary!" Yuki scrunched her face up and her eyes were blazing through dangerous water. She read every bit of him, right down to his foot placement and the way he held his hands. She was absolutely serious, now. He could do nothing but escape to hide this from her. He was desperate and didn't want to leave with the wrong note. He _loved_ Yuki.

"Zero… who is it?" completely serious. Now Zero felt afraid. Very afraid. Perhaps he showed just the right amount of contempt and self-hatred, perhaps it was the way he bounded off in shame when she looked at him blankly for confirmation,

"… You're not... serious?"

Zero had left on a very bad note.


	10. Chapter 10

-

When Kaname woke up, he shivered twice. One for the cold of the room and open window, and one for the nightmare he'd had. There were only two good things about this night: that he'd actually woken up and the ability to stand. Anything else at this point would be a godsend. Any distraction from the… place he'd been. The positions he'd been put in. Coming from what he'd envisioned, the word 'frightful' can in no way describe Kaname. Because Kaname wasn't frightened. 'Fright' didn't set that stone in his stomach on freezing. 'Fright' couldn't begin to cover the horrors seen and what had been administered to his body. 'Fright' couldn't make his hands shake so much when he tried to pour a glass of scalding water, just to see if he could melt that icy chunk in his gut. No, Kaname couldn't get 'frightened' anymore. He was terrified, now.

Yes, he was really trying to pour scalding water down his throat. Just to see if he could thaw. Just to see if he could stop that god-awful shaking and have some peace. He was so deluded. And, you'd think that _thing_-the presence inside him-would have enough class to let him look good and at least walk and not hobble or lunge. But it didn't. No, it let him suffer when he finally had time to himself. More than that: it let him simmer in how pathetic he was. It wanted him to know how much it held over him, how much it could give him, and how much he should need it. Want it. Strive for it. It wasn't a narcissist; it was trying to make a living.

But nobody respects parasites.

Kaname shut off the tap in the bathroom and walked away from the mirror and his mussed visage. He stopped when he felt the skin on his foot prickle and give. Looking down, he saw some of the glass the repair workers had missed in their clean-up. He picked it up and put in on the sink, this time being fairly careful to wipe up whatever remained-getting back into good habits, you see.

The carpet was welcoming compared to the glass-ridden kitchen and bathroom. The window hadn't been closed yet, and he could still picture Zero jumping away without so much as a glance back. Ungrateful brute. Of course Kaname would grumble this, but the real thing he was grumbling about was the fact that it didn't seem so bad anymore. It hurt him terribly when Zero ignored him, yes, yes, the whole 'don't leave me' rant, but he was getting somewhat… used to it, now. Tepid water and pruned fingers. The whole thing had been so engraved in him for so long, he'd found that parts of him had either done complete 180s or had been… '86'd. It had disturbed him when he found himself watching the man, but now that he wanted those eyes to look at him, he was wondering whether or not the whole thing was a coup to kill him. Because that water never did the trick, and that stone still sat cold in the pit of him, not even rolling, so encased in ice. It was starting to hurt, actually, and as he leaned out the window to calm his nerves like the old days. He found himself gripping that spot and rubbing to soothe it.

He sighed; what could life do for him now? If he was really going to fall for all this, what was the reason? His goals were his goals, and he knew he would never abandon someone so important as Yuki-the one person **nothing**__and **no one** could replace, but what was he going to do in the segmented times between points A and B? What was coming to occupy his thoughts, now that his body was 'gone with the wind'? Because his heart was exclusively reserved for his girl. This final frontier he'd once thought to always be logical was running away with the skinny fucking white guy. The last personal paradise-memory, philosophy, fantasy-was being blown away to suit some bloated idea of, God forbid, _serving _a**man**. His destiny was peace, not servitude. But already, his senses were gone and windblown canopies were turning into careful whispers and voices he knew he didn't want to hear. Every flower was suddenly that goddamned bloom, every glass or crystal those intrepid, irreverent eyes. And touch… the fabric of his jacket was enough to convince him when he closed his eyes. And he did close his eyes now, just come out of a horrible sleep, he let himself be commandeered by the comforting force of absolute darkness and sound only.

He knew he'd just done this. Nights ago, he'd stood in the same spot and sought things only a woman in… he digressed. Rubbing his temples, _This is too complicated_. Abrogating almost every decision between the last night and now, Kaname set a new course: screw all, go on with the plan. To elaborate, he was going to follow Machiavellian concept: it doesn't matter how the fuck you get there, just **get there**. And he was adamant about this, now that he'd thought of Yuki. To protect and love her, he was going to have to handle it all and handle it well. Looking like it was effortless wouldn't matter soon: the things he'd seen brewing in the Senate; whatever the Hell was going on in Ichiou's mind wasn't good, and Kaname was fair to think it had something to do with overthrowing him and instigating a full, Senate-run government.

What horrors plagued his life.

But there was a somewhat-kind-of-squint-and-you'll-see-it light in his situation. If he could just keep his cracks, shortcomings, and insecurities hidden for a while longer, he might be able to pull everything off. He just might be able kill those men and establish a world that would be safe and kind enough for his girl. If he could just hold on a little bit longer, if he could be strong enough to withstand the oncoming blows, he would graciously receive whatever fate had in store for him. Whether it be Yuki… He stopped breathing for a moment as punishment for the upcoming thought. He couldn't afford to be so weak at such a time. He needed to focus. He needed to work. He needed… He needed a shower to cool down and think more clearly.

-

Zero sprinted from Yuki, breathing hard and thankful she'd decided to let him off. He was so close to the Moon Dorm. Kaname's window wasn't far at all. All he had to do really was get past the zealots and the guard at the gate. It shouldn't be too hard, right-No.

Zero stopped to get a rest in. He panted and wiped his mouth, bending over and leaning against one of the trees lining he walk. It was so fucking _**close**_. Barely a step away! And the persistent scent of heliotrope surrounded him. He knew it was probably worse for Kaname at the moment, considering the man's rather interesting abilities. No need to get all hung up on the sulking prince, though; this was Zero's decision entirely. And oh, how he racked his brain before his feet finally took off toward the recipient of that voyeur-welcoming window.

He hiked the wall, trying his very best not to make too much noise as he scaled the barrier. If even one of those hoity-toity aristocratic brats found him out, he was fucked. Thoroughly.

He grunted as he slipped a little on the strong vines and clung to the bricks tenaciously, grinding the tips of his boots into the mortar and hoping to death nobody on the other side cared about the scratchy sounds. He lifted a hand from the surface and quickly grabbed onto one of the decorative stone terraces, thankful to be nearing Kaname's floor. He hopped up with great speed, flinging himself onto the sill with barely a wobble, having just about run up the wall and using a trick he hadn't performed since Yagari-sensei taught him. He looked around, taking in the ornate woodwork of the furniture in Kaname's front room. The door leading to the hallway was locked, the kitchen sounding lifeless. His ears pricked when he heard water, and climbed in. Kaname had just turned on the shower: he had plenty of time.

-

Oh God, oh God, oh God-The wall, the sill, the familiar _thunk_ on his carpet… Kaname shivered against the tile of his shower stall. The water spraying him was harmfully cold, and he felt the glacial droplets nipping at his skin like thousands of bees. He had wanted to calm down. He had wanted some time to himself to get his head together and think about his decisions. The brief, biting pain the water brought was just enough of a distraction to keep him from being completely engrossed in Zero's nearby scent. He ran his fingers through his hair habitually, staring down the pristine white of the shining floor. The lights were heavily dimmed, giving the same mystery as darkness, but with a slight hint of seduction: _He _**could **_be here, you know_. So disturbing. Kaname was almost out of it again, and finally gave up at trying reviving his failing conscience. Zero was probably coming to his bedroom door, so he shut off the water and stepped out to towel off. He'd only been in for about ten minutes when he felt the distinct mortification of being found in his position by none other than the man who'd put him there. A part of him looked at the picture wryly, seeing the whole thing as a bit of grip for attention in an endless world of fans. Another screamed at him for being so completely vulnerable. Tough titties to his rational side. But a newly formed third part gave him a vague, gloomy indifference. He was so tired of his naturally conflicting life and wheedled personality. The thought of relaxing into whatever failure could be and just giving up was becoming more and more alluring, and as he hung the towel on his drying rack and tugged on his pyjama pants, he couldn't help but notice how nice it was to feel like that. Completely apathetic. Not stony, not fierce, just… relaxed. His hand fell on the knob and gave the door a little push. Sure enough, there, by the entrance, stood his coarse responsibility. Somehow, the word 'irony' swept through his mind when all his convictions wore away at the sight of the silver crown.

Zero frowned tersely, but Kaname left him to an amount of silence as he stepped purposefully to his desk. When it appeared they were getting nowhere, Kaname let out a short,

"What is it, Kiriyu?" Before his senses caved in on him. He sat down for good measure. Zero's frown persisted for a while, then he looked away,

"What happened?" He finally said. Kaname wavered in his chair, gripping the back firmly through his near-drunkenness. His demeanour made him seem merely distracted, but in reality, he was close to falling on all fours and inching toward the bed for another round. He was taken advantage of so easily; Zero wasn't doing a goddamned thing. That made him quite sour,

"If you're referring to our last encounter, I should think you'd know what happened **explicitly**. Almost everything seemed quite vivid to me, at least." Kaname's drawl was taking on a bit of a stubborn tone. He was losing himself just as he had hours before. Not to mention, Zero's clear and purposed erase of his previous visit was gnawing at him listlessly. The man had tried so hard to rid himself of the things they'd painstakingly done… Was there an ounce of those smouldering ideas left in his pale head?

A grimace, "Kuran, what does… what we did… entail?" The words were stubborn about escaping him, and came out in a short voice. Kaname blanched and gazed at the young man with heavy, dark eyes,

"Which what? Tonight or"

"The blood bond, or whatever. If this is going to go on further, I want fucking _**out**_." He growled. Kaname flinched when he said 'fuck'. It reminded him of earlier and how overpowering Zero had seemed. His current stance horded anger, but the dark humour and professional aura of the Zero of hours ago left a noticeable tremble in Kaname's left palm. God, he _**wanted**_ to be dominated, now… Fantastic.

Zero looked stiff, his limbs heavy in the other man's presence. He managed to stand at attention though, not trusting anyone in the building when it came to his safety. Kaname looked him up and down, fingers aching and flinching to touch something. He gripped the chair tighter, trying to get angry,

"If you want to say something, I suggest you do so. If not, I'd like you to leave." Zero's eyes narrowed, but he didn't look Kaname straight on. His hands made painful-looking fists and he tried hard as he could not to lose control. Getting into a fight right now was not the best idea, even though he knew how horribly Kaname was handling _sitting_, right now. His mouth felt dry and he didn't have anything to say. Instead, Kaname closed his eyes and sighed,

"If that's how you're going to be, do you **need** anything?" Ooh, tricky, tricky. Kaname didn't even know what he was plotting. What that… thing was plotting as his posture relaxed into an unconsciously inviting pose. His pyjama pants sagged on his hips and he looked down for a moment: he needed to start eating better. Zero's face was hard and the brunette knew he was holding back a rather vicious bite to counter his bark. The man surprised him, however, when he stepped a little closer. The scent was coming in waves and Kaname's arms drooped, fingers holding the chair so as to splinter it with a waning strength.

"**Listen**, **Kuran**," He started. Kaname could barely keep his eyes open. His legs sagged, thighs splaying out a little further on the wooden surface. "I don't **want** to be around you. I've never **wanted** to be around you. We insult each other. Our _**existences**_ insult each other." Encouraged by Kaname's withered stature, Zero grabbed his chin and pulled him forward, free hand encasing one of the man's shoulder blades. Kaname bit his lip as his back and face tingled with delight, body now almost completely limp as he began to panic.

"Ze-" He breathed inaudibly. His eyelids blocked his view of the silver crown, but he could sense the change in the man's aura: the bastard was probably smiling.

"If you think for one moment that anything that happens between us was done for you, I pity you for being so weak." Zero's thumb roughly stroked his cheek and he could clearly feel the warm breath on his face. The lighter man began to move in, leaning into Kaname's neck and shuffling his hair aside as he whispered into that pricked ear, "_I'll never__** need**__ you, Kuran. Don't you realise we've switched places, now_?" So close, Oh _God_, it was too much to handle.

Kaname was completely lax, almost all the way out of the chair as Zero yanked him up a little more. He tried to find the strength to move his arms, his weakness driving him insane as the urges to either fight or fuck fought and merged in his head. Zero drew him up a bit closer, carefully and subconsciously making sure his collar covered his neck as he came dangerously close to Kaname's own. The pureblood trembled and Zero felt hand creeping up his back. He withdrew slightly, looking at the brunette with surprise and a little disgust; did he have the strength, and how was he going to use it? When he felt hands clamp down on his jacket as Kaname tried to steady himself, he almost bellowed in laughter and triumph.

His fingers gripped the man's chin again and pulled him up a bit more, and, strangely to the older man, gently. "Do you want to know what's going to happen to you, or do you really like games so much?" Kaname stared with blatant heat in his eyes, a tint that hid the far-off thoughts of consciousness and ability. He said nothing, but Zero noticed the swirl of intelligence behind the glassy orbs and smiled. So the man wasn't completely 'gone' when he was around. That made him happy for several fairly sadistic reasons.

"I forgot what a good boy you are-I bet you never even shook birthday presents when you were a child." He dropped Kaname's chin, strangely delighted to see that the man was now able to support himself ever-so slightly without him. So long as he kept the abuse to a more subtle tone, everything should go smoothly.

"So," He began with curious inflection as he inspected the man's slowly balancing form, "now that you're awake and my interest is finally peaked, what exactly did _**he**_ do to you?" Kaname stared blankly at him, speechless. Zero snorted, "Oh, come on! You should know how wonderful it is to be original. And if you must know why I want to know, well, I don't necessarily want to put you through old tortures, now, do I?" Zero leaned in close, a quicksilver flash going across his eyes that told Kaname what he was thinking, and what horrors the silver crown would bring back _personally_ for him to enjoy.

"Am I not cruel, Kuran?" Kaname stared at him for a few seconds, then the sweet exhaustion caught up to him a bit more. His lids slowly closed, and he sank back into the chair, Zero's hand slipping from his face as the man walked to the window and closed it. And drew the curtains. And smiled as the brunette could only twitch in instinct. But what instinct was in the room at that moment was something entirely arguable, and maybe even a little twisted.

-

Yuki walked back to her dorm with her arms firm at her sides. Her pace was fierce, and anybody walking by might have thought she was looking to gain revenge, she seemed so concentrated.

Yuki was generally not a very concentrated person.

But what was Zero so shaken about? She suspected it had been a girl, which, naturally, irked her a little, but he'd looked sick when she mentioned it. He'd looked like she'd just pinched him. And the whole running away thing was less than encouraging. Her first thought was that someone had threatened him, but this was _Zero_ she was dealing with. He wasn't scared so easily. Her second thought was that maybe something was happening concerning his 'condition', but that seemed unlikely, because he'd been quite stable lately. So that left the theory of a crush which was, again, unlikely. Zero didn't care for people in general, but when she'd gotten to the Night Class, he looked ready to throw up in anxiety.

She sighed and slammed the door shut to her room, a little pissed there wasn't someone to vent to. Yori was preoccupied with the Student Government, a hobby for which she'd repeatedly expressed her admiration. Usually over Yuki's favourite breakfast, which made the moment all the more special.

The brunette dropped her books on her desk and flopped on her bed. She wished she hadn't crushed her music player. Two-story jumps were dangerous, but she'd never thought she could lose something so undeniably useful and precious. At the time she had a brief understanding of what Zero must have gone through with his brother and their parents, but had managed to get over it when the same boy begrudgingly loaned her his own. He was so much more convenient and lovable than most would like to believe, it was just a little hidden. Like bedrock or permafrost, guarded by golems and sharks with lasers attached to their heads, or something.

She frowned, sitting up when she heard the lock on the door turn. Yori stepped in, flushed from the winter cold, giggles pouring out of her mouth like refreshing cocoa. Her eyes were blue and bright when they landed on Yuki's somewhat tired, dazed form,

"Yuki! Everybody on the Student Council is going to a special dinner next week! We get to sit with the Night Class members, and you and Zero get to come, too!" The girl sighed dreamily, "Isn't it just wonderful? We might get attacked afterward by the rest of the Day Class, but just think about it! Getting to sit so close to them!" Yori was a very private person, but she exploded in her own room. Yuki was almost always there to witness it, and took a little pleasure in seeing her friend so wild and ecstatic. It was like seeing a younger sibling opening a Christmas gift. The blonde girl untucked her scarf and threw it upon the bed, twirling in front of the window with a giddy expression,

"Do you think I'll get to sit across from Kain?" She never got into the whole 'Wild' fad. He didn't seem to act like it in her opinion. Moments this exaggerated were a little rare. Even if Yori could let her guard down in front of Yuki, she wasn't nearly so hyper in public or around others, even. Yuki grinned softly, mind still a little hazy from the night,

"This must really be important to you. I don't think I've ever seen you this excited." Yori smiled shyly, looking at Yuki with a near-uncontained happiness,

"What do you think we should wear?"

-

Kaname felt strange when Zero walked back over to him. The stone in his stomach rumbled dangerously, and it felt colder than even Aidou's tricks as it and his heart hijacked his chest case and bashed against his ribs. There was something about the way Zero was looking at him that just made it go crazy. Even the presence inside of him shrank back in his head, leaving him almost completely exposed to the ravaging effects of Zero's strong scent. The man loomed over him for a few seconds, and Kaname was losing his energy more quickly than he ever had. When the silver crown bent to draw him up though, a sobering shock ran through him.

He immediately began struggling, fear springing into his eyes and forcing his sluggish heart to start beating faster and faster. Zero was surprised and a little amused when the weakened body began flailing, but quickly attempted to subdue the motions, so as to preserve the moment and perhaps even his neck.

"Shh, Kaname…" Kaname did not still, but his ears pricked up at the soothing whisper. Zero picked him up delicately, being careful in how he handled the situation. He didn't know what was causing Kaname's fit, but as they left the desk and chair and moved closer to the bed, he began to get an idea. This idea made his mouth curl and his eyes gleam.

Kaname hung in his arms limply, terror making his veins pound so hard, Zero feared others would come to inspect the scene. This had to be handled a bit more carefully, now. God knew when Kaname's memories would poison their encounters to a fatal extent. Nevertheless, he gingerly laid the brunette upon the bed, crawling on and watching with interest the massive, dilated black eyes the pureblood was displaying. Kaname looked like shivering replica of his old self. He'd started sweating, his eyes darting around and fixating on Zero for a few seconds before beginning another mad visual raid of the room. The younger man looked on in amusement, testing the other as his hand moved slowly to a sweating cheek. Kaname immediately locked onto it, trembling greatly as the gentle fingers came closer to him. He made to shout, but the hand was quick and covered his mouth. Oh, God, it was just like them. Just like what had happened-the heavy scents, the dizziness, the pale skin and translucent eyes-he didn't dare bite the hand. But he did manage a quick defence and grasped Zero's stomach, claws out. The man doubled over directly after the blow, though still intent on keeping the brunette quiet,

"Kuran," He growled. Kaname shuddered when those light eyes turned on him with a soft sort of look. Zero's hand fell when he saw Kaname would not make to move again, and he carefully rose a bit higher, wincing and knowing almost instantly why the pureblood had become so docile. He grinned, fangs out when he noticed the dull glaze over the chocolate orbs. Climbing hesitantly up the bed, he settled beside the man and, again, put him through a test,

"Are you alright, Kuran? You look a little flushed," he said cruelly. Kaname might as well have been a doll, in his state. Zero brought some of his fingers-red and wet-from his pierced torso, having them just in the other's sight. He smiled again, watching predatorily for any small changes or movements. He had a petite, instinctual craving to shout his victory in joy when Kaname finally clutched the sheets and closed his eyes. His breath was ragged and Zero almost squealed when those lips knotted up and that head turned just a slight to further reveal that beautiful, white column. The icing on the cake was when Zero simply brushed his hand over the man's stomach and two thighs started slowly moving their adjacent legs apart, centimetre by centimetre. Everything was absolutely perfect.


End file.
